


The Arrangement

by GallifreyGod



Category: Law & Order: Organized Crime - Fandom, Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe, Business, CEO, Daddy Kink, F/M, Light BDSM, Oral Sex, Orgasm Delay/Denial, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Porn With Plot, Sexual Content, Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-26
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:34:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 43,824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26644576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GallifreyGod/pseuds/GallifreyGod
Summary: Olivia Benson is a young college graduate working as an assistant to Elliot Stabler, the CEO of Stabler Enterprises. She finds herself undeniably attracted to him and is more than shocked to find that he feels the same way for her. Though, fearing for her job and her goals at the company, they decide to pursue an affair in private to avoid scrutiny. They’re forced to navigate the muddy waters of business and pleasure and the fine line that divides the two… and there are just some things money can’t buy.
Relationships: Olivia Benson/Elliot Stabler
Comments: 4
Kudos: 37





	1. Chapter One - Eyes Like Ice

**Author's Note:**

> first and foremost I need to thank Firetipmyballs for helping me through this. Her help has been tremendous and I wouldn't be able to do this without her!
> 
> for more fun information about this fic, visit https://thearrangement.carrd.co/

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thearrangement.carrd.co
> 
> song of the chapter: crazy - alanis morrisette

Despite her efforts to control her cries, the word slipped from her lips as easily as the breeze. With that, she suddenly understood exactly how the darkness co-existed with the ice in his eyes, because every barrier separating the two had finally snapped. 

_“Fuck me, Daddy.”_

  
  
  


* * *

  
  


**_Earlier_ **

  
  
  


It was the ice blue eyes, that was where it had all started. Electricity flowed through the vibrant irises of her new boss who happened to be constantly staring at her through the glass windows of his office.

He was mystery in a dark suit. Even in the high saturation of his prying eyes was a hidden darkness. If she had long enough to stare into them, she was certain she'd find whatever that darkness meant. But the moments were fleeting and she was always the first to deflect her view away.

Forty five days into working at Stabler Enterprises and she wasn't aware of who was staring back at her in the mirror in the mornings anymore. The lipstick became darker, the dresses shorter, the heels higher. Every morning became a fight to find just whatever it would be that would make his stares linger a little longer.

With his attention came adrenaline, and skydiving from Mt. Everest would never thrill her to the bone, not quite like he could. Every vein in her body would constrict under the frigid temperatures of his stares. If the opportunity came about, she would sell her soul to know what he was thinking while his eyes were on her.

Her hands smooth over the black skirt that fell barely beneath her fingertips. "Oh, Olivia. What have you gotten yourself into?" she whispers in the mirror before departing from her bathroom.

"Is it show and tell day at work? Because those hips are a showin' and a tellin'." the voice of her roommate caught her off guard as she slipped into the black pumps she kept by the door. Monique was sitting on a stool at the kitchen island, organizing her portfolio as she chugged her coffee.

Olivia smirked, chuckling under her breath as she grabbed her jacket and her purse. "I'm late." she said as she swiped an apple from the counter, taking a careful bite into its bright red skin.

"Stabler isn't gonna get any work done with you there anyway, not in that skirt. Not that I can blame him." Monique giggled, rolling her eyes as Olivia shut the door on her way out.

Forty five days at Stabler Enterprises. Forty five… breathtaking days. The Olivia who had started her job over a month ago was no longer who occupied the body that wore the Fendi dresses and the Tiffany jewels. The thrill had taken over, the _need_. It was urgent inside of her, something unawoken before she'd laid eyes on him.

He created a change in her. At first it was little and unnoticeable, and then all at once.

With two fingers lazily thrown in the air, she hailed the nearest cab that had been rolling down the streets of Manhattan.

At first, the change felt pressured by the people around her. Girls in Dior and Chanel, counting how many almonds they'd have for breakfast with their triple skinny soy no-foam lattes. The first few days, she'd developed a chronic headache from the amount of times she rolled her eyes. Then, almost overnight, she'd yearned to be one of those girls. Not to fit in, not to feel better, but because he had stared at her.

One look and she was weak in the knees. Then, the chase ensued, and she'd purchased her first pair of Valentinos.

And an entire closet's worth from La Perla… just in case.

She could see him undressing her with his eyes as she'd walk in every morning looking better than the last. Normally, she'd destroy herself internally for changing an inch of herself for a man, but it was different. It wasn't just for him. Even though she no longer recognized her reflection, she liked it.

' _Normally'_ wasn't normal anymore.

Before the cab had even parked completely, she was running up the street in her stilettos, gunning towards the Starbucks next to the Stabler Enterprises building. She knew how late she was, and she prayed an unlikely prayer that the line wasn't out the door.

But she liked the rush.

Like fucking foreplay to the main event.

* * *

"I know! I know, I'm late!" Olivia yelped as she shuffled into the office. Casey, the primary assistant rushed over to her, helping to relieve the load of coffee and dry cleaning from her arms.

"You're lucky Stabler likes you so much. The first time I was late I thought he was gonna take my head off." she rushed around, helping to settle her in as the rest of the office rushed around. "Ex-wife number #3 called while you were gone. God, I hate that bitch. Apparently he's dodging her texts about negotiating the alimony settlement. Can't blame him. Uh, what else..." Casey stopped, scrambling to find her notes at her desk across the room from Olivia's.

"Ex-wife #3 is Dani, right? The blonde?" Olivia asked, quickly shuffling through the mail left for him on her desk.

"They're all blonde." Casey rolled her eyes. "Yeah, that's the one."

"Alright." she exhaled, grabbing his cup of coffee and rushing in to set it on his desk. "He has lunch with Munch and Tutuola at noon, I'll remind him when he gets in. He also has the meeting with the board at 3:30. He won't be thrilled about that, especially not with Tucker riding his ass about funding. I'll handle that if you can call his attorney and get ex-wife #3 on the phone. Paxton is the only one who can deal with her. Trust me, he'll go easier on you for handling this than he will about the board."

"You're a fucking saint. I've been doing this for two years and then you walk in for five minutes and life is already easier." Casey laughed, organizing the files on her desk before pressing the phone between her shoulder.

A deadly silence fell over the office floor as the elevator doors opened. Heads turned, steps halted, and breaths became bated as New York's most sought after CEO stepped onto the marble floors.

She was certain that she could've heard a pin drop from the silence as he strolled down the aisle between the respective work spaces. She watched as each overhead light caught within the blue contrast of his eyes. It wasn't long before she'd lost the internal battle with herself to not bite at her red painted lip.

He strode past her desk and she swore the world had started moving in slow motion around her. His head turned, his eyes burning into hers as his gaze reeled her in. She studied him in the few slow-moving seconds that she had, reacquainting herself with the lines and contours of his face.

"Good morning, Mr. Stabler." she said, her voice just rising above a whisper.

To most, the naked eye wouldn't be able to quite catch the small upward quirk of his lip. But she did. She _always_ did. "Good morning… Miss Benson." he practically purred, his lashes swiping his cheeks as he blinked, never stopping his strides past her.

The sound of his glass doors shutting pulled her back and she forced herself to uncurl her toes from within her heels. As she finally exhaled the breath she had been holding, her grip loosened from the edge of her desk.

Across from her, Casey stared at her with her jaw hanging slightly in shock. "What do you do to that man?" she whispered.

Olivia smirked, taking the end of her pen between her teeth as she leaned back in her chair. Even if she did know, it was her secret to keep.

Against her greater consciousness, she dared to cock her head to the left, peering through the glass entry into his office. Just as she expected, his eyes were back to being entirely glued to hers. A shiver fell from the base of her neck to her tailbone, thrilling her flesh until it raised into goosebumps.

He was wearing the dark blue suit, the one she had made a mental note to worship every time she saw it. It hugged him in every possible positive way. On lucky days when his elbows would press against the slate top of his desk, she could see a whispered outline of his biceps through the sleeves.

She was back to biting her lip a little too hard.

Just before she was ready to turn back to the work at hand, she saw him teasingly raise his brow with a smirk. Her eyes fell closed and she wondered for a moment that if he had seen that too. She was playing a game that revolved around a world of danger,

* * *

"Three times this has happened, Stabler. Three times!" the familiar voice of Elliot's lawyer boomed through the glass of his office. Olivia locked eyes with Casey, who quickly rushed over to her side to hide with her in the staff break room.

"Tell me something I don't know!" he screamed back, his pacing footsteps loud enough to be heard through the closed door.

"Apparently you don't know how to listen!" Sonya shouted, slapping her hands down at her hips with an incredulous laugh.

Casey peered over the corner, quickly recoiling as soon as she caught a glimpse of the argument. She looked back at Olivia, trying to stifle a terrified laugh.

"You know what if you're just gonna be a pain in my ass—"

"A pain in _your_ ass?"

"Yeah, a pain in my ASS, if that's what you're gonna be, then leave!"

" _Should we do something?"_ Olivia whispered, earning a vehement head shake from Casey with strict eyes. She could read it in Casey's eyes that interfering would just cause the argument to explode further.

She desperately wanted to see the look on his face, his eyes blazing with anger. She wondered if they would change color like some did. Would they remain as clear as ice or would the flushed redness of his angry skin contrast the color to something darker?

She wanted to see his knuckles turn white as he gripped his desk, roaring from the other side.

Sonya's voice filled the office floor once again. "A prenup, Stabler, it was that fucking simple! I told you to get a prenup and God forbid you ever listen with your ears instead of your dick!"

"I am not paying that woman another dime, Sonya. Four weeks, FOUR WEEKS! We were married for less than four fucking weeks and she wants this much? Get fucked!"

Olivia wondered if his Queens accent always became more prevalent when he was angry. Her breath was coming in shallow puffs instead of deep and steady inhales. She gripped the edge of the doorway, her fingertips digging into the wood as she listened to him yell.

"It's your fault! Wh- you think jetting off to a Vegas wedding was a smart idea? You thought she was gonna be the love of your life? You poor baby. She's a leech!"

"Why the hell are you still standing here if you can't fix it?"

" _Shit,"_ Olivia mumbled, looking down at her watch. She turned back to Casey as her stomach tied into anxious knots. _"He's got plans in less than fifteen minutes. I gotta go tell him."_

" _Are you nuts?!"_ Casey whispered as she winced. _"If you go in there right now he'll fire you. I mean it, Olivia, don't do it."_ she grit the words out through clenched teeth, though Olivia didn't seem phased.

" _Casey, I'm more likely to lose my job for not telling him,"_ she whispered back, her tone just as urgent as the voices in the next room over.

"Because I'm tired of this shit, Stabler!" Sonya screamed. As Olivia peaked around the corner, she could see the lawyer pinching the bridge of her nose. "All I ever do is clean up your fucking messes! You know what? I'm charging you double for this one."

"I'll pay you triple to get the hell out of my office and fix this!" he whipped his arm around, pointing at the door behind her.

" _Liv, don't! No —"_ Before Casey could stop her, she was taking careful steps away from the break room and towards his office. She gulped, praying it would ease the lump in her throat. She carefully opened the handle on the door, stepping inside with caution. Both Sonya and Elliot looked up to see her sheepishly standing on the opposite side of the room.

"I'm so sorry to interrupt, sir. You have lunch with Fin Tutuola and John Munch in just a few minutes," she mumbled, trying to shrink herself under the blaze of his vision.

Sonya huffed and rolled her eyes, starting to push past her. She spun on her heel to face Olivia. "How the hell do you work with this man?"

"Hey, don't talk to my employees that way! Out!" he barked one last time before Sonya was out of his office and charging towards the elevator. Elliot braced himself against his desk, closing his eyes as he blew a breath out of his mouth.

She stood for a moment, silently watching him decompress. The internal debate to leave him alone was lost and she found herself cautiously walking further into his office and towards the bar. She pulled down the bottle of whiskey that she recognized was his favorite, pouring a small amount into one of the crystal glasses. "Here," she said, turning to hand him the glass as she came up to the side of his desk. "You're gonna want to be calm for lunch, no sense in going when you're all riled up."

He finally looked up at her and she instantly noticed the change in his eyes. They had softened, reverting back to the cool blue tones she saw when he was calm. He grinned, taking a sip of the burning liquid before setting the glass down. "Thank you. I'm sorry you had to see that."

She wondered if it was the whiskey that caused the grain in his voice. She bowed her head, gently smiling as she soaked up the fleeting moment. "It's not a problem, sir."

His eyes latched onto hers for a silence filled second. Even though his fury was beginning to cool down, she could still see the embers of a blazing inferno. The darkness was still there, running rings around the pigment of his stare.

Maybe it was the shadow she's been running from.

Her eyes fell down to his lips and for a split second, she was forced to fight the urge to pull his lips against hers and taste the remnants of the alcohol. If her willpower had dissipated, she would've found herself entirely intoxicated on every last drop.

"You've called for the car already?" he asked, his shoulders finally easing as the calmness began to work over him. She breathed her own sigh of relief as he decompressed. The veins in his neck slowly disappeared as he scrubbed his palm against his face.

"Yes, sir. Skylar should already be downstairs waiting. Unless you would prefer me to cancel the lunch, which I can do." she grinned, folding her hands in front of herself as she took a step back.

_Breathe, Olivia._

"No, it's okay." he flashed her a softening smile, a rare moment of his guard collapsing. "I uh— I feel better. Thanks."

"Can I get you anything else?" she asked quietly. She could still see the anguish in his eyes and she fought back the urge to ask him about his wife… or wives. She'd read the tabloids before she'd started her job, she knew the parts of his history that the outside world knew. He had always seemed stone cold when the paparazzi had snapped photographs of him leaving court. Every article had something different to say about the situation, there was never any saying of which one was more true than the other.

But this Elliot Stabler didn't quite match up to any of those reports.

Even in cool tones, his eyes still scorched when he looked at her. His gaze followed quietly up and down her ensemble, drinking her in as if she weren't even aware. Every inch that his view covered burned while somehow managing to chill her to the bone. "No, thank you, Olivia." he rasped.

When she turned and finally made it to the door handle, something still felt unsettled. She spun on her heel to face him, watching him as he held himself together as best as he could. "For what it's worth, sir… You deserve better than this."

Before he could reply, she had let herself out and grabbed the ringing phone at her desk.

* * *

Why the hell heels weren't made to run in, she wasn't sure. All she knew was that she had an entire closet full of useless footwear for when it came to hauling ass. With a stack of files carefully tucked under her arm, she managed to sprint from the 22nd floor to the 45th floor in a matter of minutes. Stabler's meeting with the board of his technology branch had begun when the internet had crashed and since technology was more vanity than functionality, nobody seemed to own a printer that wasn't wireless.

Casey had made quick work of calling IT to resolve the problem, meanwhile, Olivia had run around with the files on a flash drive while searching for a computer that still understood what wires were.

Fifteen minutes was her new personal record in the area of problem-solving. She'd managed to pull herself together just before walking into the conference room, fixing her hair in a nearby window's reflection.

"The paperwork you requested, Mr. Stabler." she spoke quietly as she came up behind him, delicately placing the stack in front of him. "Is there anything else I can get you?"

Elliot had just begun to thank her and excuse her before he was interrupted. "Well, since you were late, there was no coffee." Ed Tucker, the CFO snarked from across the table. "I'll take mine black."

Biting her tongue and swallowing her words, Olivia gracefully nodded. "Of course, sir." She silently thanked God that there was a coffee maker in the corner of the conference room or else a trip to Starbucks would've likely made her quit her job. She recognized every man in the room, already memorizing their coffee orders from previous meetings. Asking would only delay them even more.

She didn't mind listening in on the meetings, hearing them as they pitched ideas back and forth. Most people who found themselves working at Stabler Enterprises were there for some sort of resumé boost or a way to climb the ranks in the company. If it meant having her ear pressed to the wall, she'd do what she could to get to where she wanted, and where she wanted to be was in the exact seat of Ed Tucker.

"We've been offered a partnership with Apple to develop a new series for their smartwatches and an exercise based application to be paired with it." one of the conceptualists broke the silence. "Smart fitness is all the rage these days, and Apple would be a smart investment, they're a staple when it comes to cutting edge merchandise."

Before Olivia could stop herself, she snorted out a laugh. A deathly silence fell over the room as she stilled, squeezing her eyes shut as if she could somehow take back the murderous mistake she had just made. Sheepishly, she turned around to see twelve sets of eyes staring at her.

"Something funny over there?" Tucker asked, venom dripping from each word as he glared at her. Her eyes darted between him and Stabler, who looked more perplexed than angry.

"No, sir." she fought back a smirk.

"Because if you have any great ideas from where you're standing, by all means, waste our time a little longer by sharing them."

The eyes across the room were all turning towards Tucker now, bated breath as they all waited for the next interaction. And in the flames of her job melting in her hands, she had a moment of bliss. A calm falling over her as Stabler's eyes locked with hers, not a single angry strand within his iris. If she could put her finger on it, she'd say he was actually impressed.

"Um, well." Fuck, she might as well bite the bullet. She'd laid awake for many nights wondering what the very first idea she ever pitched would be, though she never expected it to be used as a joke.

Though, the thought dawned on her. _It didn't have to be a joke._

She braced the countertop behind herself as she leaned against it, finally letting the smirk breakthrough. "Red Light." she stated simply.

"Excuse me?" Tucker asked with an incredulous expression.

"Red light." she repeated. "An application called Red Light. Pairable to phones and smartwatches. Designed for women in the city to feel safer while walking alone, especially at night. If they feel like someone's following them home or they feel as if they're in danger, they open the app and can send alerts to police as well as on-call female volunteers. If there's a volunteer in the area where they ping the app from, it alerts them of the location so they can come assist with either walking them home or making sure that if something did happen, the proper help can be given."

Stabler grinned and Olivia was certain she was going to pass out from the adrenaline that flooded her system.

"Smart fitness may be popular, but even more so than that, women around the city, the country even, feel unsafe walking around due to the amount of predators who prey on those they view as weak or vulnerable. Women will pay any dime it costs to feel safer, especially knowing that other women, the volunteers, want their safety too. On average, there are over 433,648 women sexually assaulted in the United States alone."

She started to cradle the mug of Tucker's coffee, strutting across the room. Elliot's eyes never left her as she grabbed the attention of everyone in the room. In fact, he was smiling.

"Most women are told to walk home with a friend because an attacker is less likely to pursue them if they risk having a witness. Though, not every woman has the privilege of walking home with someone every night. This would hold the potential to create an entire network of volunteers and resources, not to mention the handful of other conglomerates that would see the success and offer partnerships with us. The app could also host resources on self-defense, self-protection, and information on what to do in cases of an attack."

She stepped closer to his seat, watching him recoil under her glare. "Right now, we are living in the Me Too era, not the smart fitness age. Your coffee... _sir._ " she finished, grinning as she stood nose to nose with Tucker, setting the mug down in front of him.

Eyes glanced at each other throughout the room, nobody quite sure of what to say. She didn't care. She had found the euphoria that she had been in search of. Tearing through them like a tornado, showing mercy to nothing in her path. Elliot's eyes had never left her through her entire pitch, only becoming more entranced with each word that left her lips. He was the first to end the millennium of silence.

"I like it."

Tucker cut in, leaning forward in his seat. "You can't possibly think this is a good idea, Stabler. We—"

"I said I like it." Elliot growled. "She came in here with an argument and statistics prepared with a solution for every roadblock, meanwhile half of the idiots pitching ideas to me couldn't even tie their shoes properly. Our tech department needs a boost, and so do the, what were the numbers? 433,000 women in the United States?" he asked, turning to look up at Olivia.

"Yes, sir."

"Alright," Elliot clapped his hands together. "Let's give it the old college try, shall we? Raise your hands if you cast your vote to _Red Light_." he grinned, pointing his finger around the room at the 14 raised hands. "Fifteen to one, Tucker. Looks like you're the odd man out."

Olivia felt a chill run through her spine as the room began to speak in agreement. Through the overlapping conversations, he was silently staring at her. The blaze in his eyes became only more electrifying when paired with his impressed grin.

* * *

The elevator doors closed and her breath felt heavy in her lungs. The backlit white walls surrounded them, nearly blinding her as it combined with the invigoration of being barely shoulders apart from him. Every hair on her skin stood at a tension, her body aligning with the rhythm of the atmosphere in their field.

"I liked your pitch today," he stated simply, neither of them taking their eyes off of the door as the elevator whirred.

She took a deep breath and fought against the urge to close her eyes. "I- I'm sorry, sir. I shouldn't have inserted myself into the discussion. I was out of line."

Her job was hanging on an unsteady fault line and she was going to sink into the San Andreas with it.

He reached out, pulling the emergency stop on the control panel. The lighting of the paneled walls flashed from bright white to a deep red, soaking her in the color. "What are you doing?" she asked, wishing her words hadn't sounded so breathless.

"I… would like to ask you something," he stated simply. The crack in his tone caught her attention, his words had always been fluid and eloquent. She could feel his breath just as bated as hers.

For a moment, she thought that the emergency stop in the elevator had been the source of the ringing in her ears, until her exhale came almost just as loudly and she realized that the small space was completely silent. "Ask away."

"Do you do it on purpose?" he grated the words out and the shivers down her spine only grew sharper.

Her brows furrowed with confusion and her eyes finally looked up to meet his. The red lights of the paused elevator bled into his eyes, and she saw a deep shade of magenta staring back. _Red and blue make purple_ , whispered a small voice in her head.

"Um…" she cleared her throat. "Do what? I don't understand what you're asking." _Lie._ If lying was one of the seven deadly sins, she wondered if she was officially locked in for eternity. Lust was down for the count and she'd never deny it. Maybe even greed since she simply couldn't fathom the idea of another woman's touch on his skin. Or maybe that was envy.

"Stare." he clarified, his Adam's apple bobbing as he gulped. "You stare a lot. I'm just wondering if you do it on purpose?"

If she wasn't a glutton for punishment before, she was now. Four out of seven wasn't so bad. Though, pride was on tailing close to her heels at this point, and five out of seven deadly sins would win the majority.

"I'm sorry if I've made you uncomfortable," she breathed, her eyes training to his lips as soon as he turned to face her.

If she didn't know any better, she'd say that her soul was being bargained with the devil. Maybe by proxy, given that seeing him owning the sin of wrath would send her on a first-class trip to Hell.

He chuckled deeply, the red lights still bleeding into his eyes. "Uncomfortable isn't the word I would use."

"Oh?" she questioned, her words barely audible. She was barreling towards crossing all seven deadly sins off of her list because she was in no hurry to end the moment. That had to qualify as the sin of lacking effort. "What word would you use?"

"Intrigued." he answered boldly. "In fact, I'm certain that I haven't been careful with keeping my eyes to myself either."

She was millimeters away from the lips that she would burn cities if that was what it took to taste. "What are you saying?"

He sucked a breath through his teeth, but his gaze stayed glued to hers. "I am asking you, _politely,_ if you would perhaps be interested in… getting to know each other better. If the answer is 'no' then I will not bring it up again and I will apologize if I've made you uncomfortable. I value consent above all things, _Ms. Benson_ , but I feel as though if I don't ask you, then I am wasting a _very_ valuable opportunity. As I said, you... _intrigue_ me."

His voice ran over her skin like the texture of velvet and the mulberry hue that had now taken up his irises continued to burn into hers. The red light beaming from the walls felt appropriate given that the devil was whispering directly into her ear.

Her teeth gently grazed her bottom lip and she saw something twitch within him. Her eyes followed as his hand carefully raised, his thumb ghosting over the lip that was already growing red from the assault of her teeth. "Careful, you'll hurt yourself doing that." he whispered, coaxing her bottom lip free.

Her eyes crossed as they followed his finger down to her lip. "What are you proposing?" she asked, feeling herself completely melting under his powerful gaze.

"An arrangement, of course."

If this meant she was going to hell, so be it. Heaven was overrated.


	2. Chapter Two - Eyes Like Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> thearrangement.carrd.co
> 
> song of the chapter: earned it by the weeknd.

The apartment door slammed behind her as she pressed her back against it. Her head rested against the barrier, her eyes rolling into the back of her head. All of the fresh air in NYC couldn't take away the rush in her head. Her body still thrummed with the heat of his touch against her lips, blazing from where his thumb had guided her lip from her teeth.

"Shit, I thought you were Alex. You're home early. Stabler take the night off?" Monique asked, turning on the couch to face the door.

"Uh, something like that." Olivia nodded, not quite processing the conversation she was immediately thrust into. She had fifteen minutes to get dressed and evade as many questions as possible without raising suspicion. Given that her mind was a million miles away, the latter was a little far fetched.

"Jesus, Liv. Are you okay?" she asked, readjusting her grip on the edge of the couch to get a better look as Olivia scrambled around the room.

"Oh yeah, I'm fine." she said with a quick exhale. "Uh, I'm actually going on a date. Is Alex coming over?" deflection didn't always work on Monique and she knew it, but it was worth the try. She knew it was their six-month anniversary, and she hoped that the idea of having the place to themselves would excite her enough to end the incessant questions that were to come.

She quickly plucked the stray tube of lipstick off of the kitchen counter and the heels that she had kicked off in the hallway from the day before. She didn't dare look at her friend or the possibly disapproving look on her face. God only knows that if she did, she'd cave in and tell her everything.

"Yeah, she is. We're gonna drink wine and watch the Bachelorette." she giggled, her eyes sparkling with joy. "Nice try. Now tell me, who's the lucky guy that's got you running like you're catching the last chopper out of Saigon?"

If she couldn't avoid the conversation, she could at least avoid being in the same room. She quickly pranced down the hall, debating on locking herself in the bathroom. Though, that would only raise more suspicion. "Just... some guy at work." _Liar._ "Total spur of the moment thing, I guess. Where the hell did I put my waterfall earrings?" she called out from the bathroom.

She knew Monique better than she knew herself. She knew that the 3rd degree was simply from a place of care. Monique had always been that way, working in lockstep with whatever plan she had made up to understand who her best friend was busy with. Too many times they had both been in dangerous situations together, and the endless questions were simply a ploy to cover up the fact that she deeply cared.

Even coming from a place of love, it was still annoying.

"Medicine cabinet, to the left." Monique answered back. "So, just some guy? What happened to the silver fox hunt for Stabler?" she laughed, crossing her arms over her chest.

That finally broke through to Olivia. She poked her head out from the bathroom doorway with a lethal glare. "I do _not_ have the hots for Stabler, nor am I going on a _'silver fox hunt'_ for him." she chided, quickly returning to swipe the earrings from the cabinet.

Monique grinned, rolling her eyes as she turned back to the project in her hands. Olivia ran from the bathroom to her bedroom, quickly flipping through the hanging dresses in her closet. She quickly ripped her first option off of the rack. A skin-tight black cocktail dress that resembled the texture of latex. She quickly ran back into the living room and held up the dress for Monique to see. "What about this?"

"Oh, honey! You're gonna get pregnant in that thing!" she cackled. "Where the hell is he taking you?" she leaned back, examining the dress up and down.

Olivia glanced around sheepishly. Lying wasn't worth the risk, but ripping the bandaid off didn't feel much better. "He's taking me to _Per Se_."

" _Per Se?_ Un-fucking-believable." Monique gasped, smacking the couch cushion. "I've been with Alex for six months and she's never taken me to fucking Per Se! Whoever this guy is, you've known him for less than a month and he's wine-ing, dining, and 69'ing you at friggin' Per Se."

Olivia wasn't listening to the rambling that filled the room. Instead, she laid out the dress in front of her, carefully inspecting it for the oncoming night. He made her skin burn with a simple glance, she needed something she could still breathe in while wearing. At least with more skin exposed, she could cool down faster.

Or that's the bullshit that she fed herself enough of to actually believe it.

"Uh, Liv?" Monique's voice broke through her barriers. "I'm not sure if they'll let you in with that dress on."

"I'll wear a blazer over it." Olivia said defensively before retreating back to her bedroom. She made quick work of shedding her work attire and sliding into the dress, finding the one pair of Jimmy Choo's that he hadn't yet seen her in. The lipstick that she carefully applied to her lips was a shade darker than what she had worn to work, something deeper to define her lips under the ambient lights of the restaurant.

She had two options. She could keep lying and pretend that this wasn't as big of a deal as it really was. Or, she could tell the truth and watch Monique internally combust. She was walking a thin line and she knew, Monique would undoubtedly know it too. She always had been the one in the friendship whose vision had always been more clear. Monique was always the one who could see the risks and the danger before Olivia could. If there was something shady or risky about this, she would see it first.

Telling her felt like setting herself up for a disaster, lying didn't feel much better.

She made quick work of ripping the blazer off of the closet rack, simultaneously slipping her arms into as she stepped into the heels. Her heart hammered in her chest with nervousness and uninvited anxiety. One simple question repeated in her mind as she moved about her bedroom.

How could something so wrong feel so right?

This was asking for trouble, all of it, but it only accelerated her even further. One tiny move in the wrong direction could send both of their lives in a flaming downward spiral yet she needed that flame more than she needed air to breathe.

She braced herself against the vanity, letting her head drop forward as she forced a deep breath into her lungs.

Giving in felt guilty. Tainted with the unknown of just how much she could destroy with one simple touch. If his lips could burn cities, she wondered if his touch could sink nations into the endless ocean.

By the time she had lifted her head to look in the mirror, she realized that a bright red blush was creeping up her chest and into her cheeks. She tried to focus on the sounds of traffic coming from outside, anything to take away his low and raspy voice reverberating in her ears.

_'Man up, Olivia.'_ she whispered to herself.

Her phone vibrated against the top of the vanity, illuminating a photo of herself and Monique in the background. She swiped it off of the surface, quickly unlocking it and launching the messages.

_'Look out your window.'_

She frowned, pulling back the light blue drapes. She looked down to the ground level of the building, her eyes instantly catching the black Mercedes with tinted dark windows. She could see Skylar patiently standing beside the vehicle, his arms crossed in front of him. "Shit," she whispered.

_'I'll be right out,'_ she quickly texted back.

"Alright, I'm leaving." she announced as she walked through the living room, fastening the blazer's buttons to cover the bodice of her dress. "I'll be back... maybe."

"And seeing how you chose the dress anyway, I'll schedule you an appointment at the clinic." Monique called back, earning a sarcastic laugh from Olivia before the door shut behind her.

* * *

"So, tell me why you wanted to work at SE." he asked as the waitress set their plates down in front of them. His eyes looked up slowly, connecting to hers with a magnetism she couldn't describe.

"Is that what this is?" she chuckled, rolling her head to the side as she watched him pour their wine glasses.

"Is _what?_ "

"A work date?"

"Fine, let me rephrase that. What are your career goals?"

She licked her lips, raising her brows with amusement. "Do you want the unabridged version or the nice version?"

"Oh well," he laughed, "how about both?"

"Politely, I'd say that it's an amazing opportunity to establish myself at a Fortune 500 company such as SE." she batted her eyelashes with an undeniable look of innocence.

He grinned. "And the unabridged?"

"I'm going to pry Ed Tucker right out of that CFO seat if it's the last thing I do." she said without missing a beat, her expression turning into that of a predator seeking its prey.

His grin grew wide as he fell breathless. "Well then. I'll be waiting for you at the top."

She leaned forward, playfully looking around before locking eyes with him again. "You aren't going to tattle on me, are you? To Tucker? God forbid he finds out my plans to overthrow his royalty." she giggled.

He groaned in disgust. "Please. I want that windbag out of there more than you do."

Her expression contorted with confusion. "Why'd you hire him then?"

She saw his shoulders shrink down as he rolled his eyes. "Eh, between you and me, I had to. When I started the business, we were still merged with another company. Eventually SE got on it's feet and we went our separate ways. So, when we split, the board had to split too. It was a pick and choose for who got which board members and he was the last pick of the draft and technically I can't fire him without valid reason."

She leaned back in her seat as she giggled. "Sounds like you lost a bar bet with the other CEO."

"Oh, absolutely. He wiped the floor with me."

"Can I ask you something?" her teeth tugged at the side of her lower lip, instantly attracting his eyes. "Is that why you liked my pitch? Because you knew Tucker would hate it and rebelling against him would piss him off?" she poked her fork at her food, nervously moving around the mesclun greens against the plate.

"No. I liked your pitch because I have a daughter."

Her eyes shot up towards him, looking like that of a deer in headlights. "You— you have a daughter?" she gulped. Mentally, she went through every second of Casey's training, trying to remember if his daughter had ever been mentioned. There was nothing. Not a sticky note, not a wikipedia search, just nothing but her own embarrassing shock.

"Kathleen. She's only twelve years old. I try to keep her out of the public eye as best as I can. But I don't like the idea of my little girl being one of those 400,000 women you mentioned today. That's why I will take your pitch and die on that hill if I have to."

His eyes blazed in a different way. Something feral that brought on a wave unexpected respect for him. It was quickly becoming clear that something inside of him would murder for his daughter. The flame had switched from impressiveness to lethality at the drop of a dime.

"Um... how come she never comes around to the office?"

"She lives with her mother... I believe you know her as ex-wife #2?" he chuckled, watching Olivia blush with embarrassment. "The uh... the split was messy. For a while I figured it was best if she wasn't around me, I was a miserable person and I didn't want her to see me like that. But, time passed and we never quite reconnected in the ways we should've. I see her from time to time but uh... well, tell me more about you. You probably already know enough about me."

"I don't think I do." she whispered and he's practically breathing in the breath that she has exhaled. For a faint moment she can feel the electricity in the air and it feels like butterflies on every inch of her skin.

The light in his eyes changes in an indistinguishable way. Not quite dulling but not changing color... just _shifting_. The closest thing she could pair it to was restraint. "You said you wanted to be a CFO. Where'd you go to college?"

"Um..." she gulped, feeling the conversation barrelling towards a territory she didn't want to cross. "Columbia."

"Columbia," he parroted her words with shock. "Wow. Ivy league, that's impressive."

"Got my MBA in my first two years there and I just received my CPA." she smirked.

"Jeez." he took a sip of his wine, feeling exasperated by her. "So, the question begs to be answered, why the hell are you doing an assisting job? There's no way I pay you enough to get an MBA and a CPA at Columbia."

She chuckled, rolling her eyes at his arrogance. "No, you certainly don't. I uh — There was a scholarship fund set up in honor of a... _family member_ who worked at Columbia. I graduated valedictorian of my class in high school and they offered me the scholarship."

"Brains _and_ beauty." he tilted his head, matching her previous smirk as he leaned back in the chair. "Shouldn't be long until you've got Ed Tucker packing up his office."

"I mean, I like my job though." she said, a sparkle glimmering in her eye. "It's a very interesting position to be in." They were passing the control of the conversation back and forth, each time offering for the other to be the one who kept it all tethered. It was a game of power and nobody was keeping track of who was winning.

Maybe they both were.

"Interesting how?" he leaned forward again, the ice in his eyes becoming more vibrant than the moments before.

She set her fork down, craning her neck around as his words worked through her. "I get to learn things that nobody else knows. I find value in that. Well, that and I'm with the CEO, sipping a Cabernet Sauvignon that looks like it came straight from Napa Valley's premium vault. Could it get better?"

"Yes," he answered, barely allowing her to finish her sentence. His stare was unrelenting, pulling her in with its entirety. He was full of unspoken secrets that she had yet to learn, but yearned for. 

There it was again. Like a flicker. The extinguishment of the flame in his eyes, as if he were forcing himself to calm down. She was beginning to notice the rise and fall of the blaze in his irises as she spent more time a few mere inches away from him.

"So, tell me more. What about your childhood?" he asked, taking a sip from the glass of wine next to his plate. His gaze averted down to the table in only what she could describe as the second wave of the calming flicker.

"Uh... It's sort of a heavy topic. I'm not too sure if it's _first dinner material_." she answered with apprehension, suddenly wishing she could go back in time to the moments before when his glare looked as if he were ready to jump across the table for her. Scaring him away with her emotional wounds and scars was not an option, not now.

"Understood." he replied with a soft nod. "So... what is _first dinner material_ then?"

She lifted her head, closing her eyes as she took a deep breath. "You said that I intrigue you. Tell me why that is?" she asked, bringing the wine glass to rest delicately against her lips.

A smirk unfurls on his lips and she can see the flames growing again. "I couldn't tell you."

"And why is that?" her brows lifted playfully. "You can't tell me because it's something you want to keep private or you can't tell me because you simply don't know?"

"You..." he stopped, his breath hitching as he took in the sight of her in its entirety. Sitting across from him, staring with just as much of a flame in her eye as him. She was everything that the others weren't. "I can't figure you out." he said, refusing to blink as he stared through her with unknown depths. "I can't figure out who you really are underneath it all. I can't figure out what it is about you that makes working feel impossible and what it is about you that keeps pulling me in. You are a magnet, Olivia, a magnet that I have no resistance towards. I can't figure out why the universe put you in front of me. You walked in forty-five days ago and forty-five days ago was the last time I remember being sane."

She sat back, dumbfounded by his statement as her heart violently pounded in her ears. She took in every word, watching his lips move and his eyes revert back to the inferno she had come to recognize. "My existence isn't that profound." she whispered.

"See, I don't believe that," he leaned in closer. "because when you walked in, I stopped breathing, but if you were to leave, I wouldn't start breathing again. So, for some reason, unbeknownst to me, you exist in my life with far more purpose than your job title... and I'm going to figure out what that reason is if it's the last thing I do."

She could feel the sweat breaking against her skin as his gaze had morphed from a crackling fire into molten lava. Her breath was long since gone, caught somewhere in her lungs which already felt as if they were turning to stone beneath her chest wall. The magnetism, she understood what he meant. Wherever in the room he was, even if she wasn't aware, there was always an instinct to turn her head and each and every time, she'd caught him. Just a whisper in her ear telling to look left and the agony that came with resisting it. She _always_ caught him.

* * *

Her job was on the line. Why hadn't she thought this through? She had made the decision to start at SE as an assistant for a reason; it gave her the opportunity to climb a bigger ladder. With her qualifications, she could get a job at any decent business that was hiring. But she chose SE because it was risky and because the outcome could be more than she ever imagined.

So why the hell did she not think about that when sitting across the table from him at a five star restaurant while she allowed her libido to take the lead? Was it worth it? Was _he_ worth it? There were six millions ways she could royally fuck this and her entire future up, leaving her to have to start over even later than she should. She'd made a promise when she'd joined Stabler Enterprises, a promise to herself.

She would do everything in her power to get her dream job.

This... this was a mistake. This was a risk to everything her future had to hold. For God's sake the CEO's hand was on her bare thigh in the back of his Mercedes while they were driven around with no direction.

She made a promise to her younger self as well, a promise that she would climb out of the ashes and become something bigger than she could ever imagine.

His hand was on her thigh.

She didn't want that hand to move.

But keeping his hand there meant she could easily be barrelling towards career suicide. This could be the loss of everything she had ever worked for. Blacklisted by the network of businesses that she had aspired to work for. She was making a mistake.

This was a mistake.

"I should go home." her words stunned him for a moment, leaving them both to breathe in the thin air of her decision. She hadn't expected her words to come out so frantically and her pulse hammered beneath her skin.

  
His hand slipped away from her thigh. "Uh— okay?" he sputtered, staring at her as if the answer was written on her face. What did he do wrong? What did he say to create the sudden change within her. Had he misread the entire situation? He knocked on the partition that separated the back of the car from the front. "Skylar, can we head to Ms. Benson's apartment, please?"

She wanted to disappear into thin air. How could her entire body want one thing and her mind yell at her for another? She had worked so hard. Endless nights of studying, working, missing sleep. She had walked across the graduation stage with a goal, but why did it have to be like this?

He had done nothing wrong and the guilt of leaving him thinking otherwise was crushing. She hadn't meant to lead him on, but the ramifications hadn't set in until his skin was on hers and her body ached for him.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, fighting back the tears that burned in her eyes. She quickly looked out of the tinted windows, realizing they were pulling up towards the sidewalk outside of her building.. "I had a great time, I really did."

He tried to reach for her as she unbuckled herself. "Liv, I'm sorry. Did I do something to upset you?" the genuine hurt in his eyes only made it worse. She shook her head, barely able to make eye-contact with him as she did so.

"I swear, you didn't do anything wrong." she pleaded for him to understand but she could already tell from the look in those stupid icy eyes that it wouldn't work. Hell, she'd probably already lost her job at this point. " Thank you for tonight. I really did enjoy it. I'll uh — I'll see you at work."

She shut the car door before he could say anything and shamefully ducked her head as she walked into her building. It hurt to walk away, like something inside of her was being torn away from where it was meant to be.

Somehow, she didn't feel any better. One mistake felt like it was multiplying into several mistakes. No relief came from leaving him behind, no positive affirmation that she had done the right thing. Just more of a mess in her stomach that screamed at her about how badly she was fucking everything up.

She quickly pushed past the door of her apartment, rigidly shuffling towards the living room where she could hear Alex and Monique talking. "Stabler," she called out, alerting them of her presence. Both of them turned their heads towards her as she stood, shoulders as stiff as stone. Her breathing was heavy and her eyes had no real focus within them. "You were right, it was Stabler taking me out and we went to dinner and we were gonna go back to his place but I panicked and I left. It was Stabler."

Alex and Monique both stayed silent, looking back and forth at each other. After a moment of emptiness, Alex was the first to break with a snort. "Did he have a chance to get you pregnant in that dress first?" she laughed.

Monique cackled as she pointed at Alex. "I said the same thing earlier!"

As they giggled together, Olivia let out a huff of air. "Guys! Focus! I'm having a personal crisis, can you stop fawning over each other for 3 minutes and help me?" she dropped her purse down with a heavy thud before anxiously running her hands through her hair.

"You're right, sorry." Monique threw her hands up in defense. "You're attracted to him, right? And don't be coy please, you've just admitted that you were on a date with him so none of that bullshit about not going on the silver fox hunt."

She sighed, sitting down on the chair that faced the two of them. "Yes," she sighed, her voice dropping with defeat. "I like him... I like him a lot. I — I think 'like' doesn't actually cover it entirely."

"Wait," Alex interjected with a confused brow raised. "Are you saying you love him? Or are you referring to complete animal attraction. You need to specify what you mean when you say _''like' doesn't cover it'_ "

She shuttered. "I obviously don't love him, I barely know him! But... I wouldn't say 'animal attraction'." Olivia said with a hint of disgust.

"I would!" Monique shot upright from the couch. "You come home every night from work all hot and bothered. Like a sexually frustrated teenage boy. You never shut up about him, _Stabler this, Stabler that._ Every time you mention his names you get this glazed look in your eyes. You dated Cassidy for a year and you didn't look at him like that even once!"

"Ew, please don't mention him right now." Olivia recoiled, throwing her hands up in front of her. "I'm... attracted to Stabler. Obviously. I mean, he's good looking, he's nice to me, he's strong and my god, you should see his —"

"Okay! Okay, you're starting to daze off here." Monique called out, Alex giggling beside her. "So, why'd you run? He was gonna fuck you six ways from Sunday and you left. Why?"

"I—" she sucked in a deep breath. "I started thinking about my job. I'm not there to be a temp, I'm there to work my way up the chain. I mean, this could have two outcomes. One, we screw around, things eventually go bad and I get fired. Two, we screw around, things go good, people find out, and suddenly every promotion I get comes with people's idea of thinking I fucked my way up to the top. I don't wanna throw away my shot here."

"But you _are_ throwing away your shot." Alex stated. "With Stabler. You have the skills to climb any ladder to the top in this city, any company you choose. But only one has Stabler. If you don't throw away your shot at him and people find out, who cares? People get mad about those who fuck their way to the top when it's undeserving. For you, it's not undeserving. Just strut your moves. You can prove to anyone there that any promotion you get is well deserved."

She squirmed uncomfortably. "And if I get fired?"

"Like I said, you have the skills to climb to your dream job anywhere. This is not a lose-lose, Liv. This is a win-win." Alex leaned forward, a devilish look in her eye. "You get to climb under the covers— or up against a wall, it's your choice, with the passively attractive _billionaire_ , Elliot Stabler _and_ work with him. Enjoy your time with him but also work harder too, he'll likely be paying a hell of a lot more attention to you at the office and it will give him more of an opportunity to see your skills. You're not taking advantage of him because you actually like him."

"That is... genius and disturbing." she shuttered.

Alex cocked her head. "Something is still bothering you, what is it?"

"I just —" she bit down on her lip, turning away from their gazes. "You know me. The whole... _sharing myself_ thing isn't really my forte. I kinda clammed up at dinner a few times. I think he noticed it too. I don't know if I exactly wanna commit to something serious. I just know that I want a chance to be with him."

"Tell him that." Monique gave her a soft smile. "Just be honest. Liv, you've always closed yourself off in ways that you shouldn't have had to. I get it, I understand probably better than anyone else. But just tell him the truth, just a little. See how it feels."

Olivia exhaled, staring at the floor for a solid moment before pushing herself up from the seat and silently retreated to her bedroom. Monique and Alex exchanged silent glances for a moment before Olivia returned, strutting towards the door with a tan trench coat covering her body.

Monique giggled, elbowing Alex as they watched Olivia charge out of the room. "What are you wearing under that?"

"Not a goddamn thing," she answered, punctuating her statement by closing the door behind her.

* * *

"Sir," Skylar said, stepping into the living room of the penthouse with an iPad in his hands. "Security cameras just picked this up. She's on her way up through the private elevator, but we're not sure how she gained access.." he handed the computer over to Elliot who furrowed his brows in confusion.

"It's Liv, she has a key just in case. What is she doing here?" he frowned, handing the tablet back to the man before rushing over to the door. "I got it from here, you can go." he waved off at Skylar, hoping he made quick work of disappearing. He could already hear her heels coming up the hallway from the elevator and she knocked just as he'd reached the entrance. "Olivia?" he swung the door open. "It's late, are you okay?"

"I made a mistake." she breathed, her eyes darting frantically in his direction. She was breathless, probably from charging through the hoops it took to get to the elevator.

He cocked his head in confusion.

"I left thinking I had just saved myself from making a mistake. I didn't realize that I was actually making a bigger mistake by leaving. I uh— I don't want to go on like this. I don't want to keep letting the days pass without me knowing what it would feel like for you to touch me. I don't want to keep dreaming about what it would be like to taste your lips. You— you're doing something to me and I don't know what it is. All I know is that I've never felt it before and it uh— it's beginning to hurt. Physically. It hurts to look into your eyes, your eyes goddamnit, Stabler. God. I thought I was wasting an opportunity to work with you if I slept with you, but there are a million jobs out there but there is only one you."

"Liv," he tried to interject."

"You asked me at dinner about my childhood," she cut him off, her volume rising. "and I told you it was too heavy. I can't tell you everything, but I can tell you something. My mom died when I was 12, she drank herself to death. Growing up, I thought the only way out was to make something of myself and make my life worth living and risking that scares the living hell out of me. But, my mother, she was a literature professor at Columbia, she specialized in all the classics. If I learned anything from her and the thousands of cheesy romance novels that she made me read, it's one thing: If you feel something that you've never felt before, you chase after it... You electrify me. So, fuck my job, fuck my future, fuck all of it... Fuck me."

She let her coat drop to the floor, revealing the black lace bra and matching panties underneath of it. A garter belt hugged her waist, the straps firmly wrapped around her thighs with black stockings attached. "Do you still want me?" she whispered.

He huffed out a deep exhale, a smile tugging at his lips. "Get the hell over here." he grinned, scooping her into his arms with one hand on her back and one hand on her ass. Her arm wrapped around and was thrown over his shoulder, dragging him down by the neck as his lips crashed down onto hers.

Finally, she understood the tug and pull in her gut and exactly why her entire body was set aflame when she was in his vicinity. She understood why every time he passed her by the wind would chill her deep into her spine. It was because his tongue tasting hers was heaven and hell both wrapped up in a little box with red ribbon attached. He was every taste she had ever craved and every touch she had ever yearned to feel.

It was because she was bowing down in the presence of the inevitable.

With her hoisted into his grip, he pushed her up against the door, fighting for any traction that could give him a deeper taste into her lips. He held her up with a knee between her legs, quickly moving to make sure she was secured in his arms. His nails dug into the back of her thighs as she cupped his cheeks. "You are an enigma to me, Olivia Benson." he grit the words out against her mouth before his teeth bit down on her bottom lip.

He smelled like sandalwood and he tasted like whiskey even though they had been drinking wine, but that was him. That was always him. Always a surprise to her and nothing short of that. The taste of him, the touch of his skin, always something different, _better._ Always better than she expected.

He lifted her away from the door, his mouth dragging down her neck as he relied on muscle memory to find his bedroom. Her dark auburn hair framed her face as she towered over him in his arms, her head falling forward as he nipped at the skin on her collarbone.

They made sense. They shouldn't, but they did. He was seventeen years her senior and she was from the lowlands of the city, meanwhile he had grown up knowing the scent of first prize roses and the air of the Hamptons. But the magnet did not pay attention to their differences, their polar opposite lifestyles. It was fury and an undeniable need buried deep within both of them. A need so powerful that she was almost positive that it was charged on an atomic level.

By the grace of God, or whoever else it was that had put her on his doorstep in nothing but a scrap of lace, they'd made it up the stairs without separating or breaking any bones. With a swift movement, she had found herself landing on the bed, lying on her stomach at the edge of the mattress. Before she had gained her bearings, she felt the force of his hands pulling her legs off the bed. She gripped the sheets as his touch lingered over the lower half of her body, desperately holding in a moan as he smoothed his palms down the back of her thighs.

She felt his hands hover at her hips before roughly pulling down the garter belt and thong. The straps and lace dangled at her knees as his palms massaged into the smooth skin of her ass. "I would've preferred to do this over my desk, but there's always time for that later." he knelt down, slowly nipping at the skin down the side of her hips as she quivered beneath his touch.

Her grip tightened, white-knuckling the dark purple satin sheets as his mouth continued exploring, his tongue dragging a trail from her hip down to the back of her thigh. She let out a high-pitched whine as a shiver ran down her spine, mentally noting how much better his tongue felt there than his just his hands. "Please," she whimpered, unable to phrase just what it was that she wanted.

"I'm pretty sure you can handle just a few minutes of teasing. After all, you've been the one teasing me for weeks now." she could feel him smile against her skin as he purposely avoided the one place she wanted his mouth more than anything in the world.

She was sinking into the abyss of the unknown. It thrilled her to the bone and scared her all at the same time. There was no room for words, no way to understand what he would do or what he was like. He was still the same mystery in a dark suit, now sans the dark suit. But as long as the abyss would have her, she'd continue to sink.

His hands ran smoothly up both cheeks, sending jolts down her spine once he gripped down on the skin. Her cries were muffled through the fabric of the bedding, She wanted to feel every ridge of every fingerprint, the burn of his nails digging into her skin. Whatever he had to give, she wanted.

She could finally feel his tongue dragging towards the inside of her thigh like an answered prayer. She writhed against the bed, her legs shivering harder as his mouth worked over the sensitive skin. With what little traction she had, she tried to sway her body closer to where she'd hoped his mouth would land.

In one swift movement, his hands were back at her hips and forcefully steadying her to where he wanted her. "None of that, or I'll make you wait even longer. Understood?" his husky voice demanded before returning to the inner side of her thigh.

For less than a fraction of a second, she lets out a soft chuckle, allowing herself to relish the moment of being entirely in the palm of his hand. "Yes, sir." she breathed, grinding her breasts against the bed in desperate search of friction. She liked the command in his voice. As if he knew his demands held just the right amount of truth. It wasn't the same arrogance that she recognized from the office, it was better. Stronger suited for him, instilling the perfect ratio of trust and fear into her.

"Oh, I think I like that." his palm came down in a thrash against her ass, earning an unabashed and uncensored cry from her lips. She fought the urge to raise her lower back in an effort to come closer to his touch again, but the electricity coursing through her body was beginning to control her. Every cell of her skin thrummed with the frequency of him.

While his mouth went back to work on her thigh, she felt the tips of his fingers brush against her folds. She yanked the sheets harder, trying to suppress her moans through the fabric. Why did she feel so starved? Every hand that had ever touched her had never made her react in such a way, and yet all he did was graze her skin.

His tongue moved closer towards her core as his fingers swept through her arousal. She was spiraling, her vision going blurry even with her eyes covered by the duvet. Her head swirled and she lost the ability to control any sounds that erupted from her.

"Fuck!" she cried out. He'd finally abandoned the mark he'd left on her thigh before his tongue delved into her center. His right arm hooked under her shaking legs, the fingertips of his free hand rubbing searing circles around her clit as she continued to cry out.

Behind her eyelids, the world and any other preoccupation faded away. Each of her senses were slowly picked away, leaving her with nothing but the amplified ferocity of touch. _His_ touch. The memories of her apprehension disappeared along with the rest of the world, and so did any reservations of living a life that differed from this moment in any shape or form.

"You like control, Olivia." the power of his lowered voice broke through the barriers that restricted her senses. Each vibration of his words thrummed against her skin, nearly just as powerful as his ability to entirely subdue her mind. "You thrive on it. Let me take some of that control off of you. Let me take care of you."

Her response could only be relayed as a shiver throughout her limbs. Though she had no words to articulate it, he did have control over her. Complete and total abandonment of any shred she had left that her body belonged to her.

His tongue continued to work along with his fingers, torturing her as she felt herself on the outskirts of an impending orgasm. The feeling of him lapping at her pussy only blinded her to more of the sensations around her, focusing solely on every move he made.

And then he stopped and so did the world's rotation. She cried out in protest, unable to form the words that would express just how agitated she felt from the lack of him. From behind her, she could hear him ripping off the button-up shirt he wore and the rattling of his belt buckle falling apart. She felt him as he reached up and gripped her underneath her jaw.

If she were thinking straight, she wouldn't be praying that the strength of his hand wrapped around her throat would bruise. That his fingerprints would be imprinted onto her skin as a representation from the moment he owned her. But she wasn't thinking straight, she was consumed by only thoughts of him and how he knew every maneuver to completely take her over.

Her back arched, her stomach rising off the bed as he used his grip on her to tether them together. Her vision was dying out from the thrill and the lights of the skyline through the floor to ceiling window went out with a twinkle. She could feel him gripping his cock, readying himself towards her entrance. "Do it. Fuck me." she rasped out. "Fuck me, daddy."

Despite her efforts to control her cries, the word slipped from her lips as easily as the breeze. With that, she suddenly understood exactly how the darkness co-existed with the ice in his eyes, because every barrier separating the two had finally snapped. She could see it in the reflection in front of them; he had become something else.

That was his undoing. He filled her, inch by inch with little time to adjust. Every ounce of air that remained in her lungs released as she gave in to his hold on her. She focused on every ridge and contour of him as he slid into her, and just how perfectly he fit. The perfect stretch, the perfect moulding. _Perfect, perfect, perfect._

All of her weight relied upon his hold on her. The hand that had guided himself into her core had come to her hip, digging into her skin as he slowly pulled out just to thrust back in with the perfect force. He leaned in closer towards her, guiding her upwards with his hand still beneath her jawbone. "Say it again." he grit the words lower than she could've ever wondered that his voice could fall.

In between a desperate cry brought out from another thrust, she whimpered the name. "Fuck, daddy. _Please._ " she felt a wetness drip down from her eyes and it hit her that the pure perfection of his body melding with hers was like an impossible itch being scratched. He was everything she had ever been looking for.

He let go of a guttural moan into her ear, his hips snapping to meet hers. "Look at yourself." he nodded his head towards the reflection in the window. With what little willpower and control she had left, she managed to open her eyes to see him as he towered over her. She could see the sweat glistening on his chest and shoulders. She could see the whiteness in his knuckles as he held onto her hip.

The senses she had lost were flooding back to her, overwhelming her in every possible aspect. Her legs continued to shake as she panted for air, watching him lean down and run his tongue against her jaw. The hunger in his eyes was visible even from the window, a vibrancy she had never seen him wear before. Somewhere, lost in the haze of her arousal, she prided herself in being the one who brought that out in him.

"See what good can come when you relinquish just some of that control? When you let just a little bit of that worry melt away?" he chuckled darkly in her ear, the force of his cock thrusting into her pushing her further down into the bed.

"Fuck," she whimpered, feeling his length plunging into her sweet spot. "I ca— I can't." she breathed out. "Fuck, I'm close."

"Do not cum yet." he ordered, his mouth contorting into a grin. His movements were swift as he pulled out of her, quickly flipping her over so she was lying flat on her back. She was splayed out in front of him, squirming from the loss of him inside of her. He took a moment to appreciate the view with an animalistic stare before giving back into her. His hands made quick work of the black lace bra that still clung to her chest. "We're not done."

This time, he relished in the sight of her as he pushed his cock back into her. Her jaw dropped, her eyes straining against closing as he filled her core. Her legs wrapped around his back, anchoring him against her as he started to fuck into her again.

His head dropped down to her chest, forcefully grabbing one of her breasts. His tongue ran against her nipple, sucking on the protruding bud. She let out a sob as he circled his tongue around the sensitive skin. There are no consequences with him. Not now. There are no repercussions for losing her self control. At least, she hopes that somehow his persuasion will also come with protection.

Now is not the time to worry about the fallout.

Her hands cupped his cheeks, bringing him up and away from her chest. She stared into his eyes as he bucked into her dripping wetness. Something inside of her was reawakening the control she had given up, she wanted to stay lost in the eyes that tormented her.

She pulled his face down towards hers, enveloping him into a full-fledged kiss. His tongue dragged along her lower lip before taking it between his teeth. Her whimper vibrated against the skin where he bit down, only adding the electric buzz of the atmosphere surrounding them.

His movements were quick and skilled, rapidly pulling her hands away from his cheeks and pinning them above her. His grip held both of her wrists with one hand. "Ah ah, I see you fighting for that control to come back. Let it go, Liv." he whispered. "I'll take care of you, I promise. Trust me."

His words reverberated in her ears. She trusted him. She had no fucking reason to, nothing to truly back up his word. She barely knew him, but the trust was there. It was in those goddamn eyes that left blisters on her skin.

She was submitting to him, finally allowing the walls around her to wash away.

He craned his neck, finding her pulse point with the guidance of his lips. Her body continued to move against him, occasionally falling out of rhythm just to find its perfection again. He licked and kissed at the skin of her neck, carefully dragging up towards the back of her ear. He was everywhere on her, no escaping his perfect capture over her entire body.

"Fuck, don't stop," she panted, her breath speeding up as he made his mark throughout her skin. The fervent thrusts of his cock were speeding up against the perfect places, quickly dissolving her ability to hold back. The legs wrapped around his back were growing tighter against him, her body's natural instincts kicking in as she forced him closer to her.

  
The feeling of her becoming undone was his kryptonite. He knew that she could only teeter on the edge for so long before she would inevitably come crashing down. But it was the edge that had him hooked. "Say it. Say it and I'll let you cum." he growled in her ear.

"Fuck." she cried out. "Daddy, please." as soon as she felt his hands release their grip on her wrists, her arms wrapped around him with a magnetic force. Her nails dug deep into his skin, leaving a red track in their path as the control over her body only fell further away from her.

His hand quickly came down to her clit, the motions of his fingers working in tandem with the striking of his hips. "Good girl. Cum, Olivia. Let go." he whispered, groaning as he felt her clenching around him. As soon as the words fell from his lips, she was sunk. Her back arched off the bed once again, her head thrown against the duvet as the uninhibited cries filled the room.

She shivered and shook beneath him, causing him to unravel just as quickly as she did. With one last thrust, he buried himself as deep as he could go, his own orgasm taking hold of him with deadly force. His head fell forward into the crook of her neck as they rode the wave of their release.

As soon as her heartbeat stopped pounding in her eardrums, she eased up on the grip of her nails into his flesh. Their breathing fell in sync with each other, both of them treading in the waters of a frozen moment. He raised his head to look down at her, seeing her widened brown eyes peering back at him.

They stared at each other in shock and silence before a grin broke out across her lips. She giggled as she saw his face soften. His forehead was sheen with perspiration, his lips just as swollen as hers. She lifted her hand to his cheek, thumbing over the flush of his skin. And suddenly, it didn't hurt to look into his eyes anymore.

Instead, she saw a piece of herself woven into the intricate details of his irises now. 


	3. Chapter Three - Moonlight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> thearrangement.carrd.co
> 
> song of the chapter: bad intentions - niykee heaton

His button-up shirt billowed over her body as the wind grazed her skin. She leaned against the glass balcony that overlooked the city, watching as the lights of buildings blinked in the darkness of the night. Her eyes closed, allowing the sounds that swept over the streets to hum in her ears along with the breeze.

Back in his bedroom, Elliot's clock ticked on from 3:42 and forward, but she wasn't in any rush. Instead, she let the previous night's events play through her mind. Each moment savored as the wind touched her in the same places that his hands had been not too long before.

Standing on the terrace of the Stabler Enterprise building's penthouse felt better than being at the top of the Empire State building. It felt undeserving and unearned, but thrilling. In that building, in that bed, she had fucked one of the most powerful men in the country.

Despite her worst fears, she had, in some sense, fucked her way to the top.

But it no longer loitered her worst fears; it was pure power at the tips of her fingers. Power that she had no intention of abusing, but power felt like heaven against her skin.

"Mmm, come back to bed." he whispered hoarsely in her ear, coming up from behind her. His naked body pressed into hers as he wrapped his arms around her waist. Her hands gripped his forearms and she chuckled as her head fell backwards into him.

"I couldn't sleep." she murmured back, feeling herself becoming consumed with him once again. He swayed against her, lightly pecking at the red spots on her neck that his mouth had previously left.

"Who said anything about sleep?"

She chuckled again, already suspecting by the exhaustion in his voice that he was full of empty recommendations. He gently tugged her away from the edge, leading her back into the open glass double doors into his bedroom.

She crawled into his bed with him following in suit, curling into him as they became reacquainted with the silk sheets. Her head rested against his shoulder as he laid flat on his back. His fingertips lazily ran up and down her spine while she traced circles on his chest. "Never took you as a cuddler, Stabler." she giggled.

His head turned to the side and from the city lights beaming through the windows, she could see an outline of a soft smile. "Why don't you ever call me Elliot?" he asked, pushing a strand of hair out of her face.

"I don't know." she whispered back, shaking her head "I guess it seemed too personal?" her eyes fell to his lips as he continued to brush his hand through her hair.

He leaned his head in closer to her, his voice dropping to near silence. "Say my name." he gently coaxed. His forehead rested against hers, staring deeply and unrelentingly into her eyes. "Go on, say it."

She hesitated, searching in the mystery of his eyes for something, anything that would hint at what he wanted. Was it a power play? Was he just turned on by her voice?

"Elliot," she breathed, staring at him through her long lashes. She threw her leg over his waist, cupping his cheek as she drew his lips down onto hers. "Elliot," she repeated, speaking into his open mouth.

She felt his hand move away from her face and dip under the covers, swiftly finding her already soaked entrance. He smirked as he ran his fingers through her arousal. "So that's why you don't say my name, huh?"

"Shut up," she groaned, her hips grinding down as he teased her with his fingers. She hated how much she loved this, how embarrassingly wet she already was and how he knew exactly how to tear her down. Her toes started to cramp from how tightly she curled them, her knee gripping into his hip as she fought for more friction.

"Say it again." he flicked her clit, earning a loud yelp before returning to his previous teasing. "Say it again and I'll give you what you want. Keep saying it and I'll keep giving it to you." he nipped at her bottom lip, pulling another soft moan from her chest.

She wanted to sob from how good he made her feel by barely touching her. "El— Elliot," she forced the words out as his fingers finally pushed past her folds and dipped into her throbbing center. "Please,"

"I like how my name sounds in your voice," he said, his tone gravelly with arousal as she continued to writhe under his touch. His thumb found her clit as his middle finger thrusted into her. "God, you're stunning."

She whimpered and panted something in the resemblance of his name as he added a second finger, his thumb still swirling against her clit. Her arm hooked around his neck, her head falling against his chest as she quickly felt the world fading away. "Elliot, don't stop."

"Every time you say it, you get wetter." he chuckled. She shuttered against him, murmuring his name into his skin as she forced herself harder against his fingers. "And wetter, and wetter," he drawled on, watching her become more and more riled up with tension.

"Fuck you," she grumbled with what little force the power-hungry version of herself still had. He laughed in her ear, pulling his fingers out before thrusting them in harder. She cried out without restraint, gripping at whatever parts of him she could. "Jesus Christ."

"That's not my name, you've got the wrong guy." he teased, his fingers speeding faster as her wetness dripped down onto the sheets. He curled the digits inside of her, watching as her lip trembled while she fought off her impending orgasm. "You're so close, keep going."

She sobbed and shivered as the burning of his fingers nearly brought tears to her eyes. "Elliot," she pleaded frantically. "Elliot, please. Please, please." She wasn't even sure what she was begging for at this point. Mercy, maybe? She knew she was within a moment's distance from finishing, but the incredible stretch of a third finger was something she never wanted to end.

She hates how calm and collected he is and just how terribly it contrasts with the fact that she's never begged within an inch of her life to be fucked. She hates how he's right, that the sound of his name is enough to move mountains. She hates that he poses this much control. But that was the price to pay for the feeling of euphoria; of knowing that nobody else could ever make her unravel quite like this.

"Good girl," he murmured through another loud and guttural cry from her shaking body. "You're right there, Liv. Say it, say my name. You know how it will make you feel."

He's arrogant and cocky. He's the devil and they both know it. Except all she knows right now is his name on her lips as she lets the cries and moans come without restriction. "I'm gon— Elliot," she struggled, feeling the immaculate heat rise from her core as his fingers thrust deeper. "I'm gonna cum. Elliot!"

His fingers curled one last time and the light behind her eyelids was blinding. His own groan from watching her was lost in the sound of his name on repeat. Her body stiffened, her grip on him undoubtedly leaving bruises. He marveled as he watched her, a completely different side of her that nobody knew except for him.

Her body relaxed with an exhale, her eyes remaining closed as she came back down to earth. "You..." she fought to catch her breath. "You are such an ass." she gave a half-hearted laugh with the small amount of energy she still had left.

"Yeah," he grinned, slowly pulling his fingers out of her. "But I don't think you hate me for it." he pulled her closer, pressing a kiss to her sweaty temple. From what he could see in the dark, her cheeks were red and flushed, her bottom lip swollen from the assault of her teeth.

"Just give me a second." she nuzzled deeper into him, reaching for his hardened cock from under the blankets. "I need a minute to catch my breath,"

He reached under and found her hand, gently extracting it. "It's okay, don't worry about me. You need to rest." he intertwined his fingers with her, grazing his lips against her knuckles in a tired kiss.

"That's not fair to you," she protested, already falling asleep from the exhaustion and force of her orgasm. "Are you sure." she mumbled, her eyes closing involuntarily as she rested her head against his warm skin.

"More than sure." he pulled her closer, wrapping her up in his arms as her head rested on his chest. "I'll take a raincheck."

* * *

  
  
The light sounds of opera music drifted through the Stabler penthouse as Olivia moved about the kitchen. Elliot's shirt still hung loosely over her body, covering her from whatever view could be seen from the windows that overlooked the city.

She was in Elliot Stabler's home. The thought of that should terrify her, it should be chilling her to the bone, even though it didn't. She should be high-tailing it out the back door before the world resumes spinning and life starts up again.

But his shirt is comfortable and she's hungry.

Her third guess was correct when it came to finding wherever the plates and silverware were stashed in the kitchen, and the clinking of the utensils became louder than the music.

"Someone is happy," his voice echoed as he came down the staircase and into the kitchen. He smiled at her, a sappy grin that she wasn't familiar with when it came to their work life. It was something blissful, something that suited the fact that the burn in his eyes was no longer smoldering.

From the quick glance, she can see the marks and bruises on his skin right along the neckline of his grey shirt. She hadn't taken a proper look at the new indentations he's left on her own body, the thrill of seeing her evidence on him is more than enough. His arm raised to stretch over his head, revealing the scratch marks that coated the curve of his hips.

"Correction, someone is hungry, and that someone is me." she chuckled. For a moment, she wondered if he'd caught her gaze falling on the dark green sweatpants he wore and the impressive shadows they casted. "Did you know that if you simply ask Skylar to do something, he does it. No questions asked?" she marveled, pointing at the greasy McDonalds bag on the counter. "I thought I was your assistant, I guess maybe he's just your bitch."

He pulled up a barstool, laughing at her as she emptied the bag of food onto the plate. "He's not my bitch, Olivia. He's security. He also happens to like the bonuses that come with helping me out around here, but he's for personal life only. I gotta keep work and personal life separate somehow."

She snorted through her nose with an incredulous expression, rolling her eyes at him. "Yeah, that's working out great." she said, unwrapping the egg mcmuffin out of the yellow paper and placing it on the plate in front of her.

"Well, I guess I can make an exception since you got us breakfast."

"Nope. I got me breakfast." she smirked, taking a bite from the muffin. His hand quickly reached across the table, swiping one of the hashbrowns from the plate. Her jaw dropped as he bit into it, quietly laughing at her. "I was kidding! I got you breakfast too." he reached for the other bag on the counter behind her. "Now gimme that back."

He chuckled as he handed the food back to her, standing up from his seat to come around the corner of the island. His arms wrapped around her hips, his head resting on her shoulder as she removed the rest of the food from the bag. "This is a sight that I could get used to."

"What, a woman in your kitchen?" she smirked, huffing under her breath.

"No." he said with a smile that wasn't in her line of vision. She could feel it though, the way his jaw moved against the crook of her neck. "Just you. It's been a while since I've had a morning like this. Something calm and quiet, just us."

"Speaking of which," she turned on her heel, pressing almost skin to skin against his chest. She felt his arms tighten around her waist, her vision averting somewhere other than directly into his. "We need to talk about this. About us." more specifically, what 'us' actually was. It was a blurred line for the both of them. The date where they had been meant to talk about what this relationship would actually consist of hadn't been much of the sorts.

"So, let's talk." he could feel the apprehension melting off of her in waves. Whether it was a spike in her pulse or simply the atmosphere around them, he wasn't sure; all he knew was that he could feel it. Her body was tensing, some sort of invisible shield erecting in an effort to protect herself.

For a split second, her breath was caught in her chest. Her mouth opened, and the words were forcefully pushed out. "I— I'm not ready to dive into something big." she placed her hands on his chest, staring up at him with sad and widened eyes. "But... I don't want this to end." Her finger traced over his shirt, dragging along the outline of where his peck divided into his sternum.

He saw this coming, and somehow, he'd still allowed himself to feel even just an iota of disappointment. Well, maybe not so much 'allowed' but rather was left unable to fight off. It was low and distant, not quite ready to touch the surface of what he felt in the forefront of his mind. Though, it existed. Disappointment. "I understand," he swallowed, taking his pride along with it.

"Look," she gulped, closing her eyes. "Right now, I have to choose my job over everything. It's just the decision I made when I finally decided what I wanted to do with my life. I have had to climb up from the pits of rock-bottom to get what I have now, I don't wanna lose that. But I don't wanna lose you either." she stopped, pausing to think.

"But just tell him the truth, just a little. See how it feels." she remembered the look on Monique's face as she had said it. History and pain, all wrapped up into two small sentences. The one person on Earth who understood her better than she understood herself had essentially promised her that telling the truth would be okay. She'd said it in their own language, the language of shared trauma and memories. She wouldn't have made a promise like that unless she was certain.

"Elliot — there's a lot you don't know about me. Things that I'm not exactly proud of or even ready to talk about, but I promise that those things make my decisions valid."

"Liv, you don't have to explain yourself to me," he interrupted, and she witnessed the rare moment of when the ice blue eyes weren't so icy. Something warm and something comforting, an unexpected safety guard. It wasn't often that a wordless warmth could give her enough comfort to surrender to it.

"You can tell me that we can do this whole thing behind closed doors or you can tell me to fuck off right now, either way I'm fine with that. I'd be asking too much if I asked otherwise." she whispered, sinking into the arm that he rested on her back.

"We'll move at your pace." he replied, his voice dropping just as low and quiet as her own. "Whatever you want, however you want it, we'll make it work. I don't want to lose this either..." he trailed off, his other hand rising to stroke the high point of her cheek. "You do things to me, Olivia." His thumbprint gently stamped onto her cheek, just another reminder on her skin that he exists in her presence. "You said it last night, to chase that feeling if you've never felt it before. I wanna chase that feeling with you."

She fought back the tears that threatened to well up in her eyes. God, she wasn't even sure why she was on the verge of crying. Maybe from the fact that nobody had ever really spoken to her in a way that truly made her believe that they'd still be around tomorrow. That had always been the stem of her problems. People and their presences were never interminable. They always left in the end — so leaving first was always her first plan of attack.

"But first," he smiled wide. "I wanna show you something downstairs in the office."

"I— I don't have any clothes." she chuckled, looking down at her ensemble that consisted only of her bra from the previous night and his white button up.

"I have a hoodie and some sweatpants you can wear. I'll be back,"

She watched as he jogged off to some other part of the ridiculously large penthouse. Once she was re-acquainted with the silence, she allowed herself to slow the rapid beating of her heart. Her fight or flight response had kicked in right from under her nose. She gripped the countertop, trying to steady the feeling of waves beneath her feet.

There was no yelling. There were no threats of losing her job. There were no accusations of gold-digging or taking advantage. Nothing. Just... safety.

* * *

The elevator doors opened, revealing one of the floors closest to the ground level. She hadn't visited this part of the building often, it was mainly reserved for the heavy duty work as well as storage. The walls were less polished than the rest of the elegant building. It was more industrial than anything, cement walls and cement floors with high ceilings and visible rafters.

"Did you take me down here to kill me?" she deadpanned sarcastically. He just laughed, motioning for her to follow.

The lights flicked on, allowing them to see the rest of the open space which felt more like an entire floor of the building itself. She vaguely remembered delivering coffee down here on one of her earlier days at SE. A photoshoot set had been built for the promotionals of a new product. That day, Elliot had chosen to oversee the project himself. She had looked around in amazement, seeing the versatility of the space and that day, her mind had wandered. She had wondered how many times the environment had been transformed to host life for a new product.

He stopped walking when he'd reached the center of the floor. Three easels were set up, each one holding a white sheet over whatever canvas was underneath.

  
She looked at him with confusion, her eyes darting back and forth between him and the mystery canvases.

"After hearing your pitch, I asked a few of my guys in the design department to stay back and create a few mockup poster ideas for the app."

Her heart stopped dead in her chest, her eyes blowing wide. "No way," she muttered, her jaw falling and staying open as he pulled off the sheets from the canvases.

Each one was some sort of red design, various logos and stock photos as a placeholder for whatever tailor-made design would come in the future. On each of them were two words that just about set her on fire.

'Red Light.'

"Yeah. I mean, it's just a rough copy of some ideas they had but I figured you'd wanna see it." he shrugged nonchalantly, watching her as she came up to inspect each poster with amazement.

"Elliot.. what is this?" she spun around to face him, frantically searching his face for answers.

"This is your design suite." he stated simply.

"Excuse me,"

"I mean, it will be." he frowned, looking up and around at the ceilings. "It's pretty sparse right now as you can see but you're free to do whatever you need to do down here. Make it your own, leave it the same. It's up to you. Whatever you need or want to do with the place is up to you."

"You... you want me to moonlight this project?" she sputtered in disbelief, feeling the urge to pinch herself just in case she was diving headfirst into a disappointing wakeup call that this was all just a pipe dream.

"Yes." he nodded, folding his hands behind his back. God, he always did that when he felt macho. She had a love-hate relationship with that stance. She hated it because it was the height of his arrogance and loved it because it made her melt.

She wanted to be happy, she wanted to jump up and down until the building collapsed. But, as always, guilt set in. The feeling of inadequacy and a voice in her head telling her she was unmeritorious. "Elliot... I can't do that. I'd be stepping on God knows how many people's toes if I did that. I'm not a designer, I'm not a board member. I'm your assistant."

"Yes, but this was your idea." he smiled, stepping closer to her. "Look around, Liv. This, this is you. You walked into a boardroom full of seasoned conceptualists and pitched a better idea than any of them have in the last fifteen years. You're talented, you're smart, and you're not gonna be an assistant forever."

"Yeah but... you can't possibly think I'm ready for this."

"You were ready on the spot in the boardroom. Hell, you didn't even flinch. You had your numbers crushed and your resources lined up. Believe me or don't believe me but I'm telling you right now, nobody has ever walked into this building with that sort of talent. I meant it when I said I liked your pitch, it's only fair that you get to see it through."

She sensed the ferocity in his voice. Raw and unabated passion for both his line of work and for her. He... well, he believed in her.

"Aren't people going to be a little suspicious when they realize that the CEO's assistant is running the project?" her head lolled to the side with disappointment. "They'll never take me seriously."

They already don't. She wanted to dump that goddamn mug of steaming coffee right down Ed Tucker's pants. He'd stared at her like she was just part of the furniture. They all did. As much as she wanted to rise to prove them wrong, to show off just how damn good she was, the voice of anxiety in her head said otherwise.

"Which is why we're gonna call it an apprenticeship." he took her hands into his own. "It won't really be that, I mean, all of the control will be in your hands but the label should at least kill some of the questions."

"Elliot... I don't know. They'll never listen to me." she winced, biting at her bottom lip.

He leaned in, a despicable grin on his face. "You'll just have to put the fear of God into them, Olivia. Just like you did in that boardroom. And if they don't like an order, you tell them that it came from the CEO himself."

"Yeah, but this isn't really your scene." she rolled her eyes, trying not to think about just how many times she's watched him command without really giving any command. "You're usually signing the paperwork, they're gonna assume you don't know anything about the project."

"That's also gonna change." the smile grew bigger, yet became just a bit more shy. The sparkle in his eye was becoming brighter and her vision was instantly drawn to it. "You uh... you inspired me, to say the least. I'd like to work on this project with you. It's been a while since I've gotten my hands dirty, and I wanna see how you do."

Finally, her own smile broke through. The apprehension was shifting and was instead replaced with the small amount of excitement she was allowing herself to feel. "I don't even know what to say."

"Look, it's your first gig. I know you're working towards CFO, but I'd really like to see you try this out. If you really don't wanna do it, just say the word and I'll get my other guys on it. But... you've got something here that nobody else does. You have a drive like no other. I knew it the minute you walked in."

Her head tilted, eyes softening as she smiled at him.

"You wanna go places in the world, I get it, I've been in your shoes. It takes a force to be reckoned with to get where you wanna go. So, this is your force. It'll take a lot of free time and it won't be easy, but at the very least, I believe in you." his hand traced her cheek, swiping behind her ear as he cradled her head in his palm.

She forced herself not to cry. There was no crying, not here and not now. Though, it was the look in his eye, the undying honesty that she had only ever seen a handful of times in her life.

'I believe in you.' Powerful words that many took for granted when they heard them. "Elliot,"

"I get it, you're scared." he cut her off, knowing exactly where her train of thought was heading. "But whenever you're scared, just come down here and look around because this isn't going away. Okay? No matter what happens, between us or your job or whatever, this is yours."

He wanted to be different. Different than anyone who had ever crossed her path. This was his promise that lying in his arms at night wasn't going to destroy everything she had worked tirelessly to build for herself. He needed to be different than the people who had hurt her, the people who made her believe that the sight in front of her wasn't something she deserved.

'This is yours,'

The words reverberated in her mind as she stared at him. With one swift movement, she was on her toes, pulling him down with a crash against her lips.

And despite whether or not she knew it or even believed it, she was his. 


	4. Chapter Four - Sunlight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thearrangement.carrd.co
> 
> song of the chapter: the wolf - the spencer lee band

When the rain falls on Monday, she doesn't feel herself brought down. She doesn't cry from the water stains that will surely destroy her shoes or the fact that the water has left her hair somewhat disheveled. No, she doesn't find herself in a mood to care. Her mind was already preoccupied, too busy to worry about the unavoidable weather.

The clouds in the sky were nothing compared to the hurricane in her mind.

She shouldn't be excited. Excited feels too cliché and her life had become far too cliché in the past several days. She was sleeping with the millionaire bachelor boss who offered her a job opportunity not because of the sex but rather as a spotlight on her skills and very possibly as a romantic gesture. Her life had become the basis of every crappy romance novel sold in the discount section of the grocery store.

All she truly wants is for the most uneventful of days. One wrong move and her cover will be blown, everyone will be able to smell it on her. The secrets, the sex, the fact that her professional life is hanging by a thread all for a risk barely worth taking. She feels transparent now, as if everyone can see directly through the walls she has erected around herself.

If the day is quiet and she isn't forced to be in everyone's line of vision, she could get away with this. But, it's monday, and most of her wishes don't come true anyway.

She smoothes her hands down the front of her dress as she walks into the building, flicking the stray droplets of rain off of the fabric.. The two tall blondes that work in the lobby barely smile as she waves to them, but they never really do. Celine and Jaqueline, she thinks? She's never really caught their names.

By the time she reaches her designated floor, it becomes clear that her Monday wasn't meant to be quiet and reserved. As soon as her heels click against the marble floors, she's hit with the wave of chaos. She spots Casey amongst the sea of frantic people, quickly grabbing her by the arm and pulling her aside. "What in God's name happened?"

"All hands on deck. Tucker is proposing a vote on the board to pull the fundings from our electronics department. He wants it shut down entirely, Stabler wants all of us branching out our resources to see who we can fall back on just in case." Casey's reply came just as frantic as the room's atmosphere.

Olivia's breathing came to a halt as the words washed over her. An electrifying fear rising through her spine, wondering if her cover had already been blown. "Uh — okay. Let me talk to El— Stabler. The office can't stay this way the entire day or it'll be burnt to pieces by the time we clock out."

Before Casey could get another word in, or realize she had sputtered on the name, Olivia was charging towards the glass doors of Elliot's office. A calmness fell over her as the door shut behind her, blocking out the noises from the central office. Though, it didn't last long given that Elliot's atmosphere was charged with an intense worry and anger. "El, it's me." she called out, watching him as he stared out the window. She saw his furrowed brows in the reflection of the windows, and the tightness in his shoulders was visible for miles.

"That fucking dick." he muttered simply, refusing to turn around.

"What the hell happened?" she asked with desperation, taking another step towards him. If it weren't for the glass, she'd stand at his side and hold his arm. Instead, she settled for standing six feet away.

He finally turned on the heel of his shoes. He was holding his words back, she could see it from the refusal of eye contact. For the first time, she saw neither fire or ice within his eyes. She saw an unfamiliar darkness. The usual pristinely clear irises were nearing the shade of onyx, and worry filled her further.

His mouth opened and closed a few times, never giving more than a breath in response.

"Talk to me!" she pleaded.

"He's retaliating." he stated simply, finally making sympathetic eye contact with her. "He's mad that you showed him up in the boardroom. He's mad that myself and the rest of the board agreed on the app. So, this is his way of fighting back."

"He can't do that!"

"He can try." he said, taking a step closer. "He's the CFO, he's in control of the money. His way of showing off his power and frustration is by trying to tank the entire department. Your app goes down with it. It won't be that hard to convince the other board members to vote on his behalf."

"Then... pull the app idea," she whispered, trying not to let the sinking feeling of defeat break through. Her shoulders shrunk as she realized this was her fault. She went out of line, not bothering to think of the repercussions it would have on the entire business. If backing out was the only way to save the branch of the business, it was a no-brainer.

"I can't do that." he replied, acting as if it were the most far-fetched idea. "First of all, I don't want him to think he can bully me in my own damn business. Secondly, your app idea is groundbreaking. I'm not gonna let that little fucking weasel take that away." he stepped forward again, and she watched as those onyx eyes slowly became translucent again. The fury was fueling him. " _I_ own this place. _I_ run this show. _I_ built this from the ground up."

She took a deep breath, a smirk growing on her face. "I have an idea. When is the board meeting for the vote?"

He glanced at his watch, "3:50, why? What's the plan?" his eyes narrowed, taking in every inch of her as he looked over her from head to toe. If the stress wasn't turning him nearly blind, he would've realized it was the dress that always made him drool.

She stepped closer to him, "I need to borrow Skylar and Casey, I'll be back by 2:30." her smirk grew into a full smile. "And I'm gonna need your credit card."

He stood still for a moment, watching her with confusion and excitement. The assertive side of her would always excite him more than the side of her that fell to her knees for him. Slowly yet surely, he reached into his back pocket and cautiously handed her the leather wallet. "Don't do anything too bad."

"A little incentive never hurt anybody," she grinned, swiping the wallet from his hands. "Keep your phone on. You may need to approve a few small purchases for me." she announced as she turned on her heel and headed for the door. He stood, frozen and slack-jawed as she sauntered away.

"Casey," she called out, instantly pulling her attention. "Come with me, we're going for a little ride."

* * *

There were perks to having her ear pressed to the ground constantly. Half of the time she wondered if it was worth storing all of the intimate details in her head, questioning if it would ever pay off. She knew things about the board members that other people simply didn't bother to learn.

In front of her was the list of all 16 board members, including Elliot and Tucker. With Elliot's vote already against Tucker, she only needed 8 more members to win the majority. Trying to persuade the 14 other members was a waste of time and money. Instead, she'd pluck the weakest ones out of the group and make sure they knew exactly what they were voting for.

There wasn't a doubt in her mind that Tucker had already reached those same 14 people, so she simply had to beat him at his own game. "Where to first, ladies?" Skylar asked, eyeing them from the rearview mirror.

"Manhattan Motorcars on 11th, please," she turned to Casey, a smile blooming on her face. "First on the list, Don Cragen. He's always been a good guy compared to some of them and he's as clean as can be, so today he's gonna get a little reward for all of that kindness."

"God, some of these pricks on the list don't even deserve to have a seat at the table. I'm pretty sure I've caught half of them staring at my ass on multiple occasions." Casey grumbled, leaning back into her seat.

"Which is exactly why some of them aren't gonna get the pleasure of meeting my nice side today." Olivia zeroed in on the list, scribbling notes in the margin of the paper. "Tucker is busy buying them off, but it'll never be enough. We have the upperhand here, Case. We know things that they'd rather keep secret. I'm gonna take a shot in the dark here and just assume that our silence is worth whatever price they're willing to pay. Only, they won't be paying. Free silence? That's a damn deal they're not gonna wanna pass up."

"And Stabler signed off on this?" Casey chuckled.

  
Olivia felt her cheeks beginning to warm up. Casey was clearly oblivious in the best way possible. She desperately wanted to tell her that she didn't need Elliot's approval. In fact, Elliot was the one whose jaw would drop with pride by the end of the day. "I fix things, Casey. It's what I'm good at. So, I'm gonna fix this."

When they finally reached the dealership, Skylar quickly helped each of them out from the vehicle. Casey stared around the lot in amazement, while Olivia was more focused on keeping her eyes on the prize. "Casey, we don't have all day, c'mon."

Olivia charged through the front entrance of the dealership office, finding one of the first sales managers on the office floor. "How much for the white 718 Spyder model you've got out on the front lot?" she asked, directly cutting to the chase.

"Uh," the manager chuckled awkwardly, walking closer to the two of them. "I'm sorry ma'am, it's a little bit more complicated than that."

"Oh, really?" Olivia laughed, squinting to catch the name tag on the man's jacket. "I'm sure it is, Mike. But you see, I'm in a bit of a hurry today. You know, lunch rush, budget cuts, my dog ate my homework, whatever excuse works. I know that procuring one of those vehicles is a bit of a stretch, but I'm almost certain that if you and I work _really_ hard, I can have the keys in my hand in fifteen minutes. Look, I know I'm a woman and all, you probably think that there's no way in hell I could afford one of those, right? Wrong. So, I'll ask again. The 718 Spyder model."

"I don't think—"

"The price, Mike." she raised her voice, interrupting him with a smile before he could get another word in.

The man gulped, switching his weight from one foot to the other. "That model in particular is going for $97,300."

Olivia laughed and clapped her hands together. "Perfect! I'll take it."

"Ma'am, if you could just come back to my office so we could discuss the options we have here. It's a very expensive vehicle and I can't just let anyone walk off the lot with it."

"You're exactly right, Mike." she stepped closer to the man. "You can't let someone walk off with it. That's why I'm going to _drive_ off with it instead. You said around 97 right? Well, how does cash sound? Paid in full, right here, right now? Even better, I'll round that right up to a solid 100, and that's $2700 left over just for you. Maybe you can buy the wife something pretty with it?"

Mike stood as still as stone, completely at a loss for words. Slowly, he nodded. "Paid in full sounds great." he whispered.

"Wonderful." she reached into her purse, pulling out Elliot's wallet. "Here's the card, and here's the number you'll need to call to authorize that purchase. Tell him that Olivia sent you, how does that sound?"

Mike nodded nervously, practically running back to his office. Olivia smirked as her arms folded over her chest. Casey stood as still as stone, watching her with her jaw completely fallen. "How did you do that?" she whispered.

"Everybody wants something." she grinned.

* * *

The keys landed in her palm fairly quickly after that, and somewhere deep inside of her, she wished that Elliot had been there to see it happen. Though, she could settle with knowing he'd see it all come to fruition later. Maybe having him see the bigger picture when it all came together would be just as exhilarating.

"Alright, tell Skylar to take you towards 5th avenue. I'll be behind you, I'll call you in a few minutes and update you on which way to go, I just gotta call Stabler first," Olivia ordered as they marched through the lot. Casey quickly loaded into the SUV, Skylar driving them off as Olivia slid into the driver's seat of the Spyder.

She chuckled under her breath as her palms ghosted over the leather steering wheel. She dug her phone out of her purse, quickly dialing Elliot's number as the engine roared to life.

The line finally clicked and she couldn't hold back the smirk on her face. He was silent for a moment, but his breathing was just loud enough to hear. "So, out there spending my money?"

She could hear the smile on his face when he said it. "It's for a good cause, don't worry." she quipped back, continuing to inspect the dashboard of the vehicle. "Though, it isn't my plan to pay _all_ of these bastards off. Some of them might just get what's coming to them."

"Oh, really?" he asked, his pitch rising as he grew more intrigued. He walked over to the window that overlooked the city, pushing the drapes away as if he would somehow be able to spot her among the skyline. "Pray tell, what exactly do you have in mind?"

"I'll give you a hint. Keeping your ear pressed to the wall in my line of work comes in awfully handy." she smirked, setting the phone on speaker as she laid it against the console.

"That's vague, but I kinda like it." His grin reflected against the glass, his tall form and stress-ridden body on display for all of New York to see. But if they see that, they see the happiness. They see the pride. "Just don't do anything illegal. I don't wanna have to come bail you out of jail."

She chuckled on the line. "I'll be good, I promise." she purred, knowing full well it would rile him up. Before he had anything to add, she disconnected the line, leaving him to wonder what her day would entail.

The engine roared again as she pulled out of the dealership, veering off into the busy streets. With one hand on the wheel, she used her other hand to dial Casey's number. As soon as the line clicked, her mind was off of Elliot and back to business. "You're near 5th right? Head to West 33rd. I'll meet you there in just a minute."

It wasn't long until the engine of the Porsche died down, parked behind the familiar black SUV that Casey and Skylar were in. She double checked her list again, making sure she was in the right place.

She slid out from the vehicle, clicking the lock on the keys before striding over to the back seat's window where Casey's vague silhouette reflected against the dark tint windows. She knocked her finger on the window, motioning for her to step out. "Follow me, we don't have much time."

Casey smoothed her hands down her dress after closing the door behind her. "Where are we?"

"Cragen's separate office outside of Stabler's building. He's the CTO so obviously he wants the technology and electronics department to remain open. The only problem is, there's an empty seat on the board coming up — a better one. I'm sure that Tucker has already found some way to convince him that the seat will be his." Olivia said, pushing past the glass doors to the main entrance

"So you think he'll forfeit a better position at SE for a car?" Casey asked, eyeing Olivia with worry and suspicion.

"It's a hell of a better bonus than what he'll get with the new seat." she replied, nearing closer to the receptionist outside of the office in goal. "Hi there. I'm Olivia, I'm here on business for Elliot Stabler. Is Mr. Cragen in?" she leaned in closer against the granite desk, flashing her signature smile.

The receptionist instantly sat up straight at the mention of Elliot's name. "Uh, yes. He is. I'll let him know you're here. Can I get you anything, a coffee or water?" she was clearly on the edge of her seat, fearing that one wrong move would result in the end of her career.

But Olivia remained cool and collected. "No, thank you. I just need to speak with him as soon as possible. It's urgent." she grinned, sliding away from where she leaned against the granite.

It wasn't long until the man himself stepped out from behind the door. Olivia and Casey both smiled at him, Olivia stepping forward. "Miss Benson, Miss Novak, it's nice to see you both."

"Oh, please. Call me Olivia." she chuckled, returning the handshake he had stuck out to her. "If you have a moment, there's something we'd like to discuss with you. Is now a good time?" she flashed her signature smile again, charming just about everyone in the room along with instilling the fear of both God and Elliot Stabler into them.

"As good as a time as ever, come on in." he gestured towards the door, holding it open for the both of them. Olivia glanced around the office, admiring the view from the window. It was nothing compared to the view from Elliot's office. "How can I help you ladies?" he asked, seating himself behind the large mahogany desk.

Olivia pulled the keys from her purse, dangling them in the air. "A gesture of good will from the man himself. Mr. Stabler sees how hard you've worked for his company and he wanted to extend his gratitude for your service."

Cragen's mouth dropped. "Is that—?"

"The keys to a brand new 718 Porsche Spyder with your name on it? Yes, sir. It is."

Still struggling to breathe normally, Cragen cocked his head to the side. "Does Mr. Stabler know that bribery is frowned upon in this business?"

Olivia laughed. "Of course he does. That's why this is not a bribe, but rather a gift." she set the keys between the both of them on the desk, staring at him with a sparkle in her eye.

"A gift? That just happens to come on the same day as the board meeting that will vote to potentially burn down his entire technology department?" Cragen asked, his brows raised in suspicion as he carefully eyed the keys.

"What can I say, he's a man of impeccable timing." she crossed her arms, leaning back against the chair. "Now, normally I'd be curious as to why you're hesitant. I mean, if Tucker pushes this vote, you lose your job, correct? Or maybe you won't, maybe Tucker has offered you something under the guise of being bigger and better, right? If anything sounds like bribery to me, it's that."

The man took a deep breath. "What are you getting at?"

"We both know Tucker. You've known him for a very long time. So, I guess what I'm getting at is the fact that you and I both know he is not a man that keeps his word very often. Sure, you'll get the new job title, but how likely is it that you'll get everything else that he's promising you? The things that he's promising you are dreams, Don. Nothing more. What _I'm_ offering you is a chance to keep your job. The big difference here is that I'm showing you your results today. Come on, we both know Marge has told you time and time again that you're not allowed to buy your dream car. So, here it is." she nodded down at the keys. "All you have to do is save your own ass today in that meeting."

He stayed silent, flexing his jaw as he stared down at the keys.

Her tone switched entirely from charming to assertive in mere moments. "Maybe I should add that this deal is time sensitive, and by time sensitive I mean you have 10 seconds to decide before I take the keys without any plan of returning. So, do we have a deal?"

A tense fraction of a second passed before he nodded, swiping the keys from the desk. Olivia smiled, standing up from the chair along with Casey. "Wonderful. Enjoy. It's out front waiting for you. I'll see you in a few hours." she winked, letting herself out from the office.

* * *

Hours had passed and names were quickly crossed off of the list. The meeting was barely a few hours away and time was wearing thin. "Alright, next on the list is Muldrew. He was on Tutuola's board before they merged with SE, but he still spends time in that building. So does William Dodds. Those are the only two left on the list." Olivia said, handing one of the sheets over to Casey.

"Says here that his kids go to the Stuyvesant School, are you sure that's enough to flip him?" Casey asked with confusion, flipping the sheet as if there were something she was missing on the page.

"Yeah, there's a little something I left out on his file. It'll be enough. Our main concern here is that after we talk to Muldrew, he's gonna call to warn Dodds that we're on our way. I know a few people who work in this building, and lucky for us, we'll be arriving right on time for Dodds to head downstairs, as he does every day, for his regular coffee run." Olivia frowned as she spoke, carefully placing a bulk of the paperwork back into the manila file.

"Coffee run? Doesn't he have an assistant to do that for him?"

"Normally, yes. In the mornings at least. There's a barista there whose shift starts at two at the Starbucks in the lobby. He goes down there to flirt with her, just not long enough to keep him away while we talk to Muldrew." she grabbed her phone from her purse, dialing a familiar number. "Luckily, I have a friend who works right across the street. She can be there in minutes." The line clicked and Alex's voice greeted her on the other end of the line.

"Hey, wanna make a quick fifty bucks?" she asked, looking over at Casey with a smirk.

* * *

The three of them stood in the lobby, huddled together as they went over the plan.

"Alright. Alex, in a few minutes a guy is gonna come down and stand in that Starbucks line. See that blonde girl behind the counter?" she covertly pointed, Alex nodding at her. "He's gonna spend a few minutes desperately trying to get into her pants. I need you to stand in line with him and distract him."

"Is this what best friends do now? Whore out their friends?" Alex laughed.

"You said the other day that I'm good at what I do, I just need the ability to do what I'm best at." Olivia quipped back. "He's usually there and back by 2:08, If you can keep him out of his office until 2:15, that's enough time for me to talk to Muldrew and get to him before Muldrew calls him to warn him that we're here. Can you do that?"

"How do you think I got Monique to finally go on a date with me? I annoyed the hell out of her. I've got this." Alex giggled. "I'll stop him after he's finished eye humping blondie over there and I'll text you when he's on his way back up. What does he look like?"

Casey held out her phone, a photo of Dodds on full display. "You're his type. Just play it slowly, we need as much time as we can get."

"Got it." Alex nodded. "I'll wait here. Good luck."

Casey and Olivia charged off from the lobby, quickly heading in the direction to Muldrew's office. Time was cutting close and they were both expected to be back at 2:30 and she had spent the entire day dealing with people whose experiences were much less appropriate than Cragen's. Sealed lawsuits, ugly divorce details, DUI charges that were paid to be kept quiet.

These two would be different. These felt more dangerous than all the others, real consequences that they never faced. The power of having that knowledge was both incredible and heavy on her shoulders.

By the time she reached Muldrew's office, she was tired of the niceties. No more smiling, no more charm. Her claws were out and she was ready to end this. Not just for Elliot, but for herself. She knew how solid her app idea was, she knew how many women it could save. Like hell was she going down.

As they got closer to his office, Olivia stepped closer to Casey. "I know that the information about the Stuyvesant School isn't much, just follow my lead. Okay? I've got this." Casey nodded as they reached his assistant's desk. "Hi, is he in? I'm gonna go ahead and assume the answer is yes."

"You can't just barge in there!" the assistant called out.

"Elliot Stabler sent me," she answered back, her hand already on the door knob when the assistant sat down, a bolt of fear struck into her at the mere mention of the man's name.

When they walked into the office, Muldrew rose to his feet with confusion. Olivia put her hand up, silencing the words he hadn't even spoken. "Yes, hello, Mr. Muldrew. Sorry for barging in but I'm sorta in a time crunch here so just hear me out. You may remember me as Elliot Stabler's assistant? I was the one in the boardroom the other day if you recall."

"Y-yes. I'm aware of who you are. Why are you here?" he asked, his guard still visibly up from the intrusion.

She leaned against the guest chair adjacent from his desk. "In an hour, you'll be waiting in the Stabler Enterprises boardroom to vote on defunding the electronics department. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and assume that Ed Tucker already bought your vote, correct?"

He sputtered, no real answer coming from the string of expressions.

"So that's a yes." she nodded. "Do me a favor and tell me a little bit about your personal life. Just humor me. How's the family?"

"I'm uh— I'm married and I have two daughters. Why exactly is this relevant to my professional life and the board meeting?" he finally sat back down, the leather chair bouncing back under the weight.

"Two daughters, I've seen them. They're quite beautiful, you should be proud." she smirked. "Or maybe you shouldn't be, y'know, from what I've heard." she leaned forward, planting both hands on the surface of the desk as she came face to face with him. "Word on the street is that your daughters, Callie and Lily, right? They started attending the Stuyvesant School this semester. That's a really great school."

"What are you getting at?" he grumbled.

"Last time I checked the admissions rate for that school was pretty slim. What was it, Casey? 3%?" her head whipped around to the other assistant nodding at her. "And that's with incredible test scores. Now, how much do you wanna bet that I know the exact dollar amount that you paid to cover up their _real_ scores and get them to the top of the admission's board?"

He grit his teeth as he stared at them both, anger burning apart in his eyes. "My girls are incredibly smart. Their scores were official and they aced the tests."

Olivia pursed her lips and nodded. "Hmm. Is that so? Then why do I have the official documents stating that Callie scored a 345 on the SHSat and Lily scored a 410? I'm no mathematician but those numbers seem pretty far off from the 690 and 683 out of 700 that got them admitted into Stuyvesant."

"Whatever documents you think you have are completely false and inaccurate, and I resent —"

Olivia quickly cut him off, sticking her hand up in the air to silence him once again. "Save it. You have two choices. You can simply vote to keep the tech department at SE open, or you can get a nice cozy cell next to Aunt Becky for bribing a school admissions board. Stuyvesant is using a federal grant right now, so you're pretty much swimming with sharks in the world of the law."

Her phone buzzed in her purse and she glanced at the clock. 2:08. _Shit._ "You have 40 seconds to decide," she said, pulling out the phone.

' _It didn't work._ _He's on his way up. Blondie ducked in the back when he came by and he wouldn't talk to me.'_

"36 seconds,"

"Fine." he jumped, his words rushing with a lack of breath. "Fine, I'll throw Tucker's vote."

Olivia grinned, throwing her bag over her shoulder as she and Casey quickly shuffled to the door. "Pleasure doing business with you,"

"You got a text, was it Alex?" Casey asked, catching up with Olivia as they began to run through the hall.

"Yes. Dodds didn't bite, he's on his way up now. We have to hurry." she said, finding the closest door to the staircase. The elevators would take too long, and Dodds was probably already on his way up. Olivia ripped the heels off of her feet before darting up the next two floors. "Hurry!"

"I'm trying!" Casey cried back.

Olivia flicked her wrist to check her watch as Casey finally made it up the last few steps. She slipped her shoes back on, pushing past the double doors, looking as if nothing had happened. "Dodds is in office 302. He's right down the hall. Hopefully we beat the elevator."

"God, no wonder Stabler likes you. You just took your fucking shoes off to run up a flight." Casey huffed, blindly rearranging the fly hairs from her ponytail. _Yeah, that's not the only reason he likes me._

Olivia practically cheered when she saw that Dodds' assistant wasn't at the desk. She could hear the ding of the elevator down the hall when she and Casey quickly sneaked into his empty office. 

"Sit! Sit! Make it look like his assistant let us in to wait." she ordered Casey. Just as the both of them slid into the chairs, the doorknob rattled.

In walked Dodds with a cup of coffee in his hand. "Oh," he stepped back, doing a double take as he saw the women sitting across from his desk. "I wasn't aware I had a meeting. How can I help you?" he asked, shutting the door behind him.

"Your assistant let us in. We don't have a meeting, just a quick discussion. She said she forgot to mark us down on your schedule." Olivia replied calmly, her eyes following him as he moved behind his desk.

"Oh, well then what can I do for you ladies?" he asked. Before she could reply, the phone began to ring. Every vein her body went cold at the sound. Casey's head whipped around to face her, panic filling her eyes. "Excuse me, I just need to take this real quick."

"Alice!" Olivia blurted out just before his hand reached the phone.

His head shot up, his jaw squared with the instant look of fury and defense in his eyes. She watched as the panic rose up his chest, his body stiffening with anger and confusion. The atmosphere in the room charged with the sensation of a battle for power. "The woman you're sleeping with behind your wife's back, her name is Alice." Olivia slowly and carefully annunciated every syllable.

He grit down his teeth, the sound of the ringing phone reverberating off of the walls. She could see the breath he was holding back within his lungs, careful not to release it for the entire building may collapse beneath them. "What do you want?"

She looked at him as if they were defusing a bomb. "Pick the phone up and then set it back down on the receiver." she carefully instructed him. With his breath baited, he paused for a moment that seemed to go on for lifetimes before he listened. As soon as the phone clicked back down on the cradle, the room fell completely silent.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" he asked, his voice low and gravelly.

Olivia's eyes stayed glued onto his, embracing her own version of the burning Stabler irises that she had grown to love and fear. "She's your housekeeper. Your wife nearly fired her a few months ago because she was dating your son Mike and they broke up but you convinced your wife to keep her around. You're sleeping with her."

She needed to control the room, but she could tell that he wasn't ready to fold. Her plan had fallen apart at the sound of Muldrew's call. One wrong vote and SE's entire tech department would vanish; one wrong move.

"You are going to vote today, and you're going to vote to keep Ed Tucker's proposal as far away from Stabler Enterprises as possible." she prayed that it sounded as demanding as it did in her head. "Because if you don't, everyone will know. I will personally tell your son, your wife, and every colleague you'll ever have from now until the day you die that you are nothing more than an adulterer whose fucking his son's ex."

Aside from the ringing in her ears, she could practically hear all three of their hearts beating out of their chests. From the corner of her eye, she could see Casey cowering as she was caught in the crossfire.

Dodds took a deep breath, completely unblinking as he stared Olivia down. She squared her shoulders, glaring at him as if they were nothing but two hungry lions ready to grab the same deer. "You have no proof." he whispered.

Her eyes only gained fire as the words filled her with anger. "Do you wanna take that bet? Because if I were you, I wouldn't underestimate me."

* * *

"I'm here, I'm here." she covertly called after Elliot as she saw him charging towards the boardroom. She slowed her pace as soon as she caught up with him, trying not to come off as too suspicious.

"What are the odds here, Liv?" he whispered. "Am I gonna sink or swim because I need to be prepared for what I'm about to step into."

She didn't dare look him in the eyes, fearing her own reservations would become apparent to him. The last thing she wanted was to psych him out before he even had the chance to command the room. "You're gonna do great," she said, mustering up as much confidence into her words as she possibly could.

When he opened the door to the boardroom, she could already feel the tension amongst the silence. Half of them staring at her with dead fury in their eyes. All she needed was to hear at least 9 of them to dissent Tucker's proposal and they would be home free.

She quickly scurried to the back of the room as Elliot started the meeting, rushing to prepare each of them with their usual coffee requests. Despite how much she usually paid attention to these meetings, she tried to tune it out. If she heard even so much as someone's voice trembling, all of her confidence from the day would be shot to hell.

She couldn't let him down. Not as the woman who was sleeping with him, but as the woman who wanted to be seated at that very table some day. She knew the job required a backbone, but she wasn't his assistant right now, she was his protégé.

As she handed each of them their coffee, she tried to ignore the blazing glares that several of them gave her. She had shown them up all in different ways, threatening their personal and professional lives. She couldn't cower now, not if her future depended on it.

Finally, Tucker's voice broke through the chatter she had tried to tune out.

"Let's put it to a vote."

Stabler was the first to vote against the deal. Slowly, different voices added their yes's and no's. Her eyes followed along the seats at the table, carefully watching each person she had spoken to today. She counted in her head, taking each answer down with a mental tally.

Then, their eyes shifted to Dodds. The tie-breaker. Out of the sixteen of them, the vote had completely split, leaving it all up to him.

Every cell in her body wanted to will the one simple word from his mouth into existence.

She turned on her heel, making direct eye contact with the man as everyone awaited the answer he was mulling over. Her heart pounded beneath her ribs, her eyes bleeding a threatening rage into his.

"No," he said, finally breaking the silence.

Olivia let out the breath she had been stuck holding, nearly keeling over with relief. She watched Elliot's shoulders untense as he grinned, shooting a cocky smile in Tucker's direction. "Sorry, Ed. A for effort though," he smirked.

As the meeting came to a close, she followed Elliot out of the room, finally putting Tucker and the entire day's stress behind her. Each of the members filed out of the room, throwing caustic glares in her direction, but the adrenaline was too satisfying for her to care about them. "Miss Benson," Elliot said, careful in case anyone was listening. "May I speak to you in private?"

Her hand came to rest on his arm and she peered down either side of the halls. Casey was back at her desk, still reeling from the stress of the day. Tucker was angrily charging towards his office, and the rest of the board members were already heading towards the exits.

"Mr. Stabler," she grinned suggestively, her voice matching the alluring look in her eyes. "I'm sure I can make time for that."

She looked down the halls once again, making sure that they weren't in anyone's line of vision. As soon as the coast was clear, they snuck into one of the private bathrooms down the hall from the boardroom. He quickly flicked the lock, his hands gripping her as he backed her up against the sink. His mouth crashed down on her neck, fiercely rushing themselves into the moment.

"I thought no fucking in the office was one of our rules?" she whimpered, gripping the back of his neck. His lips planted sloppy kisses down the razor sharp edge of her throat. The cold porcelain of the sink's edge dug into her skin, only adding a chill to the burning of her skin.

His free hand pried her legs open, pushing aside the string of her thong before his fingers dipped inside of her. He chuckled against her throat as she released a guttural moan. "Technically we're not in the office. We're in the office bathroom."

"Semantics are for assholes." she grumbled, pulling him away from her neck and directing him to her lips. She opened her mouth into him, allowing his tongue to invade as she tried to feed into the kiss. She was already losing control, but that was old news to her. His fingers slid out from inside of her wetness, slowly probing against the warmth of her core. She shivered against him, spreading her legs for further access while he hungrily bit at her bottom lip.

"You played hardball today, you knew what that would do to me. This is on you." he growled as his fingers worked faster, her body stiffly writhing against his actions. The hand that wasn't occupied by gripping the nape of his neck had found the waist of his pants. Her fumbles with the belt were to no avail, and she settled with simply palming his erection through the fabric of his pants.

Deep down she knew it was less about hardball and more about power. He enjoyed watching her save his ass, but he also enjoyed seeing what his own power did to her. How she simply melted when he took the reins.

"Well, you better hurry up and do something about this." she chuckled, pulling her lips away as her forehead fell against his. "Fuck me. Please, I need you so badly." she whined, gripping tighter on the outline of his hardening cock. Her mouth watered at the feeling, his weight barely in her hands and she could already feel the thrum of exhilaration in her spine.

With a whining protest from her, he withdrew his fingers and sucked them clean. Her eyes stayed glued to his, watching the ice crawl through his irises as they bore into hers. She gripped the edge of the sink, her legs hanging off the edge with total weakness, her body melting as she watched him lick every bit of her arousal away.

When his thick and calloused hands fell to his belt, she nearly squealed. The clinking sound of the metal falling apart filled the small space of the bathroom. His pants fell to his ankles, his cock bobbing in the air from the final release of constriction. Her mouth watered as she stared at him, slack jawed while his own hand stroked the growing length. "Good girls stay nice and quiet. Can you be my good girl?"

"Yes, daddy." she whimpered. With a whirlwind, he had lifted her off of the edge of the sink and had her back pressed flush against the wall. She held back the moan that came from feeling his hands gripping the underside of her thighs. He would leave a mark and she knew it; his intricate fingerprints indenting on her skin from the force of her weight bearing down against his hands.

Her legs wrapped around him in the instant that he pushed into her. Her head fell forward, biting into the jacket that still covered his shoulders. Her back slid up the tile wall with each thrust, his lips on hers being the only filter that stopped her volume from peaking. She focused her attention to the feeling of him inside of her. Every throb and pulse from his cock as he fucked into her core. He fit inside of her with blinding perfection, the perfect stretch and the perfect angle. Everything about him moulded to her as if it were made to match, only heightening every flare of every nerve ending. Not an inch of her lacked the blaze as his fire bled into her own. He was made for her.

His lips fell back to her neck and she felt her own mouth opening, threatening to cry out as he filled her deeper. The fight to stay quiet drained every ounce of willpower from within her, a battle she had forgotten was so damn difficult. Her breathing sped up and she felt herself losing the fight against her vocal chords. "Please," she begged, the word escaping in a whisper. "Elliot, please."

"Grip the sink, grip the sink" he growled, rapidly letting her down from her post against the wall. His cock had barely left her aching pussy as she fell forward, bending against the sink. He braced himself behind her, pushing back into her with a perfect force that nearly drew tears from her eyes.

His hand came down and struck her ass cheek, sending her core into a violent clench around his cock. The hand that wasn't marking her skin was instead tangled through her hair, pulling it into a ponytail within his fingers.

She hated how much she loved it. The franticness, the fight not to alert anyone on the other side of the thin walls. She loved the risk, the thrill that bolted down her spine as he pulled her head back. With a rapid thrust inside of her, her back arched into him. Her knuckles paled as she gripped onto the sink, channeling all of her energy into her fingertips in an attempt not to cry out.

"You knew the dress would do this to me," he growled, pulling her hair downward just enough so she could see his reflection in the mirror. "Is this what you wanted?" he grumbled in her ear, never breaking the eye contact that burned from the glass of the mirror. The rampant throttling of his hips into hers had washed away any remnants of her ability to speak. She nodded as best as she could without allowing the hand holding her hair to come loose. "Words, Olivia. Use your words."

"Yes," she whimpered, clenching around him once again.

The hand that laid steady on her hip tightened. "Yes, what?" he asked, surely leaving indentations of his fingerprints on the smooth flesh.

"Yes, Daddy,"

Every inch of her body that was still covered with clothing burned like the fire in his eyes. His gaze through the mirror alone was enough to leave her knees trembling, but instead, it was more than that. It was him buried to the hilt within her, tightly pulling her hair back while his other hand held her still. Everything else compared to the blaze in his glare was simply an accessory to the moment.

"Open your eyes," he ordered, her not even having realized she had closed them. Her orgasm was cresting over, she could feel the rise throughout her nerves. Electricity bolting through every cell of her skin. She forced her eyes open, watching while his hand released her hair and instead tightly grabbed at her breast.

It took everything not to have an out-of-body experience. She was watching herself getting fucked senseless by her boss in the middle of the work day. If she thought about it for a second longer, she would explode. Though, she wasn't far off from that anyhow. Her grip on the sink was loosening from the sweat in her palms and her knees were bound to give out at any moment.

"El, I'm close," she cried in a hushed voice, still somewhat aware of the fact that they were in a semi-public place. Her lip quivered as he continued to hit the perfectly sensitive spots from within her. She watched the concentration on his face, admiring the fact that he was lost in it all. Lost in her. It was becoming clear to her that this was an art form to him, and every move was deeply calculated for the purpose of making her melt.

"Do not cum yet," he grit the words out through his teeth, reiterating his point with a forceful thrust. "Not until I tell you to. Understood?"

She gulped, her eyes nearly rolling back into her head. "Bu—but,"

"I _said_ do you understand?" the hand that had steadied her hip fell away, quickly coming down against her ass as the authoritative tone echoed against the walls. "You will not cum until I tell you to."

As he drove deeper into her, her body fell forward against the sink. The countertops dug into her ribs, surely adding to the marks that would discolor her skin by late evening. A shaky breath left her lungs, her ability to stay quiet quickly fading.

She answered with a nod, unable to form the proper words it would take to acknowledge his command. Her eyes fought to close but with sheer force, she kept them pried open so she could watch his reflection in the mirror.   
  


His jaw was clamped tightly as he concentrated on working her body, the veins becoming more prominent in his forehead. With a quick glance, his eyes caught hers and a moan erupted from deep within his lungs. Watching her, seeing the way she fit perfectly around him, it was becoming too much. He forced his eyes closed again, knowing how unfair it would be if she wasn't allowed to cum, just to have him finish first. But what could he say, she was a force.

In the back of her mind, she knew where the power was coming from. He was beyond proud of her bold behavior which ultimately saved his ass, but some part of him felt the need to retain that very power. The fine line between the workplace and the bedroom — or in this case, the bathroom.

His angle shifted and her ability to stay quiet was quickly departing. He could feel her as she clenched around him, staving off the beginning of the end that she could feel trembling within her. He was teetering right along the edge with her, the mixture of adrenaline and electricity thrumming through the both of them.

"Cum." he grunted in her ear. "Cum, Olivia." his thrusts came more frantic and one hand on her hip moved down to her clit. His fingers became reacquainted with the wetness of her core, working her right over the edge with him.

The fluorescent lights of the bathroom only added to the blinding light behind both of their eyes. Her body stiffened, shivering against his as she rode out her orgasm. His grip on her waist was strong enough to crush titanium, and yet she yearned for the bruises his fingers would leave. She could feel the hot puffs of air against her neck as he came with her, the warmth of his own orgasm dripping down her thigh.

Once she was back down enough from the high, she giggled as her head fell backwards against him. Her breath was still leaving in heaves, but as both of his hands came up to wrap around her chest, she felt a blanket of comfort fall over her body. His chest rumbled with his own deep chuckle. "Oh, you are something else."

"I'm not the one who got all hot and bothered in the conference room." she quipped back, watching the mirror as he placed small pecks down her neck. She slid out from his grasp, turning to face him. She smirked as she helped him tuck himself back into his pants, her palms straightening out the crinkles in his shirt. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone how much it turns you on when I save your ass. It'll be our little secret." 


	5. Chapter Five - Spotlight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thearrangement.carrd.co
> 
> song of the chapter: hit me up by danny fernandez

Two weeks had passed since Olivia had forced the fear of God into a handful of Stabler Enterprises’ board members. As soon as the technology department was no longer in a downward flaming spiral, the funding for Red Light had come in. Suffice to say, the bulk of her evenings were spent in the design studio at the office or in Stabler’s bed.

She was starting to forget what her own home even looked like anymore, only running home for a change of clothes and a quick shower. It was strange, but the design studio felt more like home than her own apartment did. She was in her element — an element she wasn’t even aware was hers. Each new design, each new decision made only furthered her understanding for why Elliot was absorbed in his work.

She felt like a God.

A very, _very_ tired God.

Any remnants of her life before working at SE felt a million years behind her. His presence had installed a permanent thrill running down her spine, the adrenaline she felt becoming a staple in her every day life. He had changed her; it all had.

Alone in the studio, she sat hovering over a sketch desk. The mechanical pencil in her hand was beginning to leave a red indent in her fingers as she scribbled and erased and repeated the process. Her mind was so enveloped into the sketch in front of her that she completely tuned out the sound of familiar footsteps coming from behind her.

“Someone’s working hard.” Elliot chuckled, gently placing his palm on her back as he peered over her. His eyes scanned the lines on the paper, a deep twinge of pride growing in the pit of his stomach.

Her head snapped up, her eyes meeting his almost immediately. “You scared me.” she giggled, letting her head fall back down to face the paper. “I’ve been working on this all night, I can’t get it right. It’s missing something.”

“Show me what you’ve got so far,” he said, pulling up a rolling stool to sit beside her. He could see parts of the mockup screen layout mapped out on the page, scribbles of options covering the pages.

“Well, I have the initial design for the actual panic button in the app figured out.” she pointed at the circle in the center of one of the screen drawings. “Accessible by fingerprint ID to avoid accidental triggering, 4 digit codes for devices without fingerprint ID. Accidental triggering can only escalate a situation, we don’t want that.”

“Brilliant. What’s the problem?” he asked, his eyes coming up to meet hers. He could see the stress behind them, the urge for the entire project to be as perfect as possible. In some way, he could see the drive and purpose in her.

“Well,” she sighed, dropping the pencil down to comb her fingers through her hair. “It’s missing something. I have some resource page ideas mapped out as well, but I don’t think that’s the best to open with. It might only add to the fright that will come when you’re a woman about to press a panic button. Not to mention that the resources included are more for exploratory purposes, not immediate attention.” she sighed again, falling forward against the desk with exhaustion and frustration.

He couldn’t help but smile at her. She had what most people in their line of work lacked. She had compassion. She wasn’t thinking about the dollar sign behind the creation, she was thinking about every woman who would walk the streets at night.

“Hey,” he laughed softly, guiding her back upright. “You’re incredibly smart, you know that right?” he asked, staring deeply into her eyes. She stuck her lower lip out, not quite answering his question. “I wouldn’t have put you in this position if I didn’t have the confidence that you’d figure it out. It’ll come to you. Just give it time, okay?”

Her eyes softened, her pout turning into a small smile. “You’re right,” she ran her palm over his cheek, pressing a kiss against his lips. “Thank you for believing in me.” she whispered, softly resting her forehead against his.

“Well, I have no choice. You’re a big investment,” he chuckled, earning a weak slap across the chest from Olivia. “It’s already past 6:30, Liv. Come back to my place, you’re tired.” he pleaded, seeing the way she was wilting by the minute.

She opened her mouth to answer but the sound of her ringtone filled the room before she could speak. “Excuse me for a second,” she muttered, standing up and stepping a few feet away to answer. “Monique, is everything okay?”

“You, me, Alex. We’re going out tonight.” Monique answered on the other line. “Alex got us into 1 Oak and we’re leaving in a little bit. When will you be home?”

Olivia sighed with a heavy exhale, pressing her palm to her forehead. “Mo, I’m really tired. I’ve been working overtime and I don’t think I have it in me tonight.” She glanced over at Elliot who was giving her a sympathetic look.

“Liv, please! I haven’t seen you in ages and it’s been months since we’ve had a girls’ night out!” she whined into the phone, and Olivia could already picture her pouting with slumped shoulders. “You’ve been dying to go to 1 Oak for months now, and you’re really gonna blow it off now? For Stabler?”

Olivia flinched, praying Elliot hadn’t overheard. “You’re way off base!” she snapped. “Look, I’m sorry I haven’t been around as much, okay? Can we please just do this another— you know what? Fine, I’ll be there.” she rolled her eyes, fully knowing that if she didn’t just suck it up and go that she’d never hear the end of it.

“Atta girl! See you then.”

Olivia dropped her phone down against the desk, crossing her arms over her chest. “Sorry about that,” she grumbled. Elliot smiled softly at her, stepping closer before standing toe to toe with her.

“Don’t apologize.” he brushed a strand of hair out of her face. “I only wish you’d do what’s best for you. You’re obviously exhausted, I’d hate to see you burn out completely.” his arms came around her waist, rocking her leisurely back and forth.

She grinned tiredly, throwing her arms over his shoulders. “Trust me, I’d much rather be at your place in that big bathtub with you.” she smirked stepping on the toe of her heels to peck him on the lips. The smell of expensive cologne filled her nose, calming her almost instantly. “But I guess I do owe it to her. She’s right, I haven’t been around very much these past few weeks and I don’t want her to think she can’t depend on me.”

“Depend on you?” he frowned with confusion. “I mean, is one night out gonna break that trust?”

“It’s complicated.” she said, staring up at him through her lashes. That had become her famous line lately; or at least the more he wanted to get to know about her. It’s complicated. It’s always been complicated. Her life wasn’t really her life without complication, but neither was Monique’s. “I’ll explain more some other time. For now, I have to go drag myself out to some club in West Chelsea to prove that I haven’t abandoned my friends.”

“Well, at least try to have fun. Maybe I can take you up on that big bathtub offer tomorrow or Sunday. _After_ you’ve got some good rest.” he pressed a long kiss against the soft skin of her neck before releasing her from his hold.

“Only after I’ve rested? Well, then I’m tempted to skip the club and go home for an Ambien.” she smirked, starting to walk away. She grabbed her phone from the desk and the coat laid over her purse. She spun on her heel, reaching up to clutch his chin between her thumb and forefinger. “See you soon.” she punctuated with a kiss.

* * *

The lights were too bright, the music was too loud, and she started to wonder when she had become a 40-year-old woman. Her head throbbed every time the bass of the music changed and she swore she could hear her pillow calling her from miles away.

The three of them were seated in a private booth, drinks scattering the table. Monique was the first to grab a shot when more were delivered. “Cheers, to finally dragging Olivia away from her job and her billionaire boyfriend.” she sloppily smiled in Olivia’s direction which was promptly returned with a sneer.

“He’s not my boyfriend!” she called out over the excruciating music. She let her shot sit on the table, instead deciding to nurse whatever fruity pink cocktail had been handed to her at the start. “Please excuse the fact that I’d rather be in bed with him than at a loud club after clocking in nearly 60 hours a week.”

“So being in bed with him is also better than being at home with your two best friends?” Alex asked, just as drunk as Monique who she was currently pulling closer to her. “Sounds like he’s gone some world class peni—”

“Alex!” Olivia barked at her, finally ripping the shot from the table and forcing it all down her throat. If she was gonna listen to them all night, she’d need as much alcohol as she could get. “I never said that I didn’t want to be home. I’m just trying to balance it all!”

“That’s why we dragged you here!” Monique raised her voice over the music again. “Work-life balance. If you can’t do it, we can make you do it!” she curled inward to Alex, both of them giggling to each other.

She had a work-life balance. The only issue was the fact that her comfort zone was no longer in her own apartment with her friends. It was him, it was work, it was everything that had changed her life in a matter of weeks. That didn’t help the guilt very much though. She knew Monique missed her. There was a time when they relied on each other for survival, attached at the hip and beyond. But her job was becoming more serious, her entire life was becoming more serious. She had the app to work on, her… _situation_ with Stabler, not to mention her actual job of assisting him.

“I’m gonna go get us a few more shots.” Alex called out, sliding out from the black leather booth. Olivia was afraid to look at Monique, afraid she’d see some sort of drunken resentment or disappointment in her eyes. She was being a buzzkill and she knew it.

Instead of dwelling further into her annoyance, she decided to do something about it. Pretty much all she could do; get drunk as hell. She swiped one of the drinks from the table, unsure of who it belonged to. All she knew was that it looked much stronger than the pink shit in the martini glass she had. She whipped her head back, pouring the remainder of the drink down her throat.

When she pulled back, she shuddered at the taste. Whatever it was, she could taste the strength of the tequila in it. She wanted to ignore the voices in her mind that told her all she was doing wrong. Maybe not just ignore them but gag them completely. One voice telling her what a shitty friend she is, the next telling her that she might as well just drink like her mother. The worst of all was the loudest one, telling her how terrible she was for dragging Elliot into her fucked up life.

As soon as Alex was back at the table, Olivia swiped the closest shot on the tray and knocked it back. Both of them looked at her with wide eyes, witnessing the sudden shift in Olivia’s demeanor.

“You want me to party, let’s party.” she called out to them, slipping out from the booth and heading towards the dance floor. As soon as she was on her feet, she could feel the drinks beginning to settle within her. Her mind was going fuzzy, the exhaustion beginning to fade. Monique and Alex exchanged looks before shrugging it off and following her.

The lights flashed against the sequins of her black dress, reflecting throughout the room. She strode towards the center of the floor, each step working the drinks further into her system. A tingling warmth rose from her fingers up, relaxing every tense muscle in her body.

She allowed herself to drown in the music, bathing in the flash of the strobe lights. Her vision was stirring more and more as she moved, the room around her blurring and becoming a mixture of brightness and darkness. The burn of tequila still remained on her taste buds, but the burn was about the only thing left that she could feel.

The rhythm in the air changed as she danced, gliding around her rather than her body working against the centrifugal force of gravity. In the haze, she could see Alex and Monique on the floor together, moving with the beat of the music. She snapped her eyes shut, attempting to focus on nothing except the pounding bass in her ears.

She didn’t want to see any of it. Not the scenery, not the lights, not the normal friday night life she had once loved. It was easier to pretend she liked it when her eyes were closed. But with every clench of her eyelids, foggy memories flashed through her mind.

 _‘Focus on the music, Olivia.’_ she told herself. It wasn’t working. The flashes came and went, reminding her of exactly where she wanted to be. The glass fireplace mounted into the wall across from Elliot’s bed. _No._ His back as he’d stare longingly out from the office windows overlooking the city. _No._ The smile on his face as he’d jokingly left an egg McMuffin on her desk to remind her of their first breakfast together. _No._

She didn’t want to think of the silky amethyst colored sheets that he looked so elegant while wrapped up in. Instead, she wanted to think about the sequins on her dress digging painfully into her skin. She didn’t want to think about the airy opera music that floated through his apartment, she wanted to think about the blaring loud rock that was currently deafening. The random bumps of strangers behind her, not the soft touch of his skin grazing hers with that devilish look in his eyes. Disgusting bitter alcohol, not expensive Napa Valley wines.

“Olivia!” Monique shouted over the music, her callings ignored. Olivia squeezed her eyes tighter, drowning herself in the music as if nobody else in the world existed. She needed the alone time with herself, anything to give her a minute to think. God, she just wanted to think, damnit! If the alcohol numbed her body and if the music blew her eardrums, maybe she could just think.

“Liv, look!” Monique tried again, shaking Olivia’s arm. Her eyes begrudgingly opened, bringing her back down to Earth despite her greatest efforts to remain limitless. Monique pointed over Olivia’s shoulder in the direction of the door.

She spun on her feet, squinting to get a better look. As soon as she laid eyes on him, her jaw fell slack. Elliot walked in, icy eyes sweeping the room from side to side. His fingers toyed with the sleeves of his army green shirt, exposing his forearms as he pushed them up three quarters length. It was rare to see him in casual wear, something so starkly different than his normal designer suits. In fact, she wasn’t sure if she’d ever seen him in denim.

Without thinking, she started making a beeline towards the door. Her body collided with others as her equilibrium fell off kilter. She briefly wondered if she was about to make a complete idiot out of herself since he’d never seen her this drunk before.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, pulling his attention. He smirked at her, casually stepping closer to her. There wasn’t much room for personal space with everyone pushing and pulling each other, so being pushed almost chest-to-chest with him wasn’t shocking.

“How was I supposed to know that this was the same club in West Chelsea that you’d be at?” he asked with feigned confusion. “I figured I’d see what all the fuss about this place was for.”

She grinned wrapping her arms around his waist, leaning her head back to stare at him. “So, you’re stalking me now?”

“Oh, you wish.” he rolled his eyes, leaning down to kiss her. He could taste the tequila on her mouth and feel it in her actions. With an unfamiliar aggression, her arm came up to the back of his neck to pull him down closer. She bit down on his lower lip, deciding to drown herself in him rather than just the liquor. The hands he had placed on her hips grip tighter as he feels the warmth radiating off of her. He could feel the vibrations of her moan as her fingernails dug into the nape of his neck.

She pulled away, out of breath and lips bruised. “Let’s dance,” she smiled. Before he could fit another word in, she grabbed his hand and led him to the floor. He could see simply from her footsteps that she had already had quite a bit to drink.

She thinks about the red lights of the elevator, the day he had hit the emergency stop and her entire life had stopped as well. This time, they’re drenched in the purple lights that beam down from the ceiling in thin strands. Her life had shifted so much since she had witnessed the red lights fill his icy eyes. Red had turned purple and the strict rule of keeping herself away from temptation had shattered.

The song shifted as soon as they’d squeezed into an open space on the floor. She pressed her back to his torso, his arms trailing over her body with no clear path of direction. Her eyes closed again, allowing her to follow the euphoric mindset she had been searching for earlier. Though, it was different. He was here now, his fingertips gripping her ribs as she ground into him.

She didn’t need to picture nirvana, she had found it.

Her head fell back as she released a soft yet strangled breath. She could feel his hand rising up to her breast torturously slow. He took advantage of the openness of her neck, craning his head down and dragging his tongue to her pulse point.

Her small hands made a stark contrast to the largeness of his as they covered his knuckles. She guided his movements with her own, pressing his touch harder against her body. She didn’t bother to wonder what the people around them may think. They were all drunk anyway. Though, she knew he was a man who valued privacy above most.

Did he know what he was doing? The risk he posed to the empire of his personal life, the one he tried so hard to protect?

He was stepping into the fire. A public nightmare if anyone possibly recognized him. The tabloids never left him alone, constantly speculating on his marriages and his relationships. He was being stupid. Though, the minute she had slammed the shot glass down on the table, she had made the mutual decision to be just as stupid.

A match made in heaven. A human resources nightmare.

Her hands reached behind herself, hooking around the back of his neck as she pulled him down further. She could feel the zipper of his jeans digging into the thin fabric of her dress as she arched against him. Every inch of her body screamed to be closer to him, to touch him in some way or another.

She spun against him, her chest flush against his as she gave him a sultry grin. “Let’s get out of here. We can go back to my place.” she said, nipping at his lower lip. She could feel the quirk in his smile at the thought of screwing her in a new place. “I’ll go tell Monique that we’re leaving.”

Given that her eyes had been closed, she hadn’t seen that Monique had watched them as they danced. Alex had stopped her own movements when she felt Monique tense up. Though, the expression on her face hadn’t been what Olivia would’ve expected to see had she seen it at all. It wasn’t disgust or disappointment, it was genuine curiosity. An alarming wake up call that she hadn’t seen Olivia relaxed in a long time, not until Stabler had shown up.

Olivia struggled her way through the wave of people, spotting the familiar faces a few feet away. It was completely lost on her that Monique looked slightly shaken up.

She stared at Elliot and Olivia in disbelief, tinged with the regret of mocking Olivia. She didn’t trust Stabler. Hell, she didn’t trust any man in a position of large power. Yet, she hadn’t quite witnessed Olivia relax so easily. She had never seen the guard melt away from her best friend so fast.

Rather than bringing her comfort, it filled her with dread. She and Olivia both knew the flying embers of hell, she knew any sort of vulnerability was never in the cards for either of them. Where there was supposed to be happiness for her best friend, there was the fear that she would be left to clean up the inevitable mess that would come when heaven transformed back into hell.

Once Olivia had finally become close enough, Monique was practically out of breath. “Are you gonna hate me if I leave a little early?” Olivia asked, her volume fighting over the music.

Monique stared at her, not exactly sure how she felt about any of this, let alone being ditched. “Uh, no, that’s fine. I’ll see you back home later!” she waved her hand as nonchalantly as she could, trying to wash away her fears with the smile on Olivia’s face.

Olivia wrapped Monique into a hasty hug, kissing her on the cheek before running back off into the crowd.

* * *

The way she tumbled into bed with him wasn’t steady nor graceful. Electricity thrummed from her spine down, every nerve in her body begging for him. She managed to roll him to his back, fighting for traction on the bed so she could climb over top of him. With swift movements, his shirt was discarded to the floor. Her palms grazed over the smooth skin of his chest, the warmth of his body tangling with her own.

“Get the— get the belt,” she muttered, helplessly fumbling with the metal clip. He knew it was pointless for her, she couldn’t see an inch in front of her let alone his belt in the dark. His hands reached down under the covers, quickly undoing his belt and zipper before kicking the jeans off. Her hands immediately fell to his erection, wasting no time stroking him in her palm.

“Lift your arms,” he ordered, grabbing the slinky black dress by the hem and pulling it over her head. He let out a deep groan when he’d realized she had ditched the panties for the night. She released his cock from her grip, grabbing his wrist instead. She guided his touch down to her core, earning a satisfied moan as his fingers dragged through her wetness.

She leaned down over him, her breath in hot puffs against his ear “Let me ride you, Elliot.” she whispered, her words slurred pleasure rather than just the alcohol. She was beginning to sober up anyway, an effect he always managed to hold over her. When she rose herself back upright, she could see the apprehension in his eyes. Despite her state and the darkness of the bedroom, she could read him as clear as day. _‘Tonight, you can. Tomorrow, you’re mine.’_

As she reached down to grab his length, he curled forward into her, watching as she slowly lowered herself onto him. A breathy gasp fell from her lips, attempting to take in as much of him as she could in one go. In her mind, there was no time for teasing or preperation, she needed him more than she needed air to breathe.

She rose up until he barely had an inch within her before she tried again, biting her lip as she took in more and more of him. Through his own heavy breathing, Elliot’s hands came up to release the clip of her bra. She managed to pull the last remaining article of clothing from her body with little effort, throwing it into the pile on the floor. His palms smoothed over both of her breasts, pinching her nipples as he worked the skin.

With one final thrust, she let out a harsh whimper when she became fully seated on him. Her head tipped backwards, her hips picking up a slow rhythm as she took the lead. Any cry came uninhibited, suppressing her usual habit of trying to remain quiet no matter where they were.

As she further adjusted to his size, he could feel the tension in her moves. She was rushed, riding him as if it would be her last chance. A voice in his head told him that he should slow her down, but the stronger voice in his head was telling him to match her intentions.

She was harnessing the control that he was usually in charge of.

It wasn’t an unwelcome change, but rather something that struck a bolt of curiosity into him.

His hands moved up her back, his fingertips ghosting over her ribs before clutching tighter. She leaned forward as she continued to fuck herself against him, white-knuckling the headboard for leverage. Uninhibited cries poured from her lungs, the sensation of his warmth wrapping her up. 

Through the darkness of her bedroom, he could see the way her eyes squeezed shut. She was alone in her own little world, experiencing the whole and entire feeling of simply him. Drowning herself in the glorious sensation of burning nerves and unbridled pleasure.

His hands came away from her ribs, pushing back the duvet so he could stroke her legs. Where her thighs met his hips, his thumbs grazed the velvety skin. Her grip on the headboard became tighter as he ghosted his touch along the inner side of her legs. He felt her grow wetter as she worked harder to feel every inch of him within her.

His right hand came away from her thigh, cupping her breast as he lifted slightly off of his back. She leaned forward just enough for him to run his tongue across her nipple. He sucked the ruthlessly hard bud, his lips teasingly working the entire area as she fell deeper into the blinding lights of adrenaline.

He was overcome with the sudden urge to take over her. To exert the power that both of them knew he harnessed. He had been meticulous about holding off, constantly fighting the feeling to show her every single thing he wanted to do to her body. Yet, he continued to try to ease into it. It was her power that caused him to fail.

He released her breast from his mouth, working harder in tandem with her motions rather than allowing her the right to completely take over him. “Fuck, Elliot!” she cried louder, his cock pulsing against every sensitive spot inside of her. On an undeniable whim, his hand came down against her ass, slapping against her cheek as her pace only furthered. She could feel her fingers aching as she held tighter onto the headboard, though she couldn’t bring herself to release it. She craved the gravity, the raw need for him to meld with her as much as possible.

It took every ounce of his willpower not to flip her over and take her from behind. He could feel something within her movements, a desperate need to chase the pleasure rather than something else. Whatever it was she was running from, he couldn’t put his finger on it. She was searching for everything about him that could blind her, to melt reality away. She wanted it, it was only fair that he gave it to her.

“Are you close?” he rasped, whispering despite the fact that the entire apartment was empty. Still lost in her own world, she aimlessly nodded. Her head fell back, her breath coming in shivers as she felt the thrill within her growing unbearable.

When his hand came to her neck, she bit her lip with a high-pitched whine. His finger squeezed beneath the sides of her jawbone, gripping down on the thrumming pulse points beneath her skin. The lip between her teeth quivered as he stilled her own writhes against him. The power she held over him drained away with the force of his hips, his control over the movements only adding to the wetness that enveloped him.

If she had the power to open her eyes, she would see the fire in his eyes that she had become acquainted with. Maybe even molten this time, something much stronger and more fierce than she had seen before. But she was busy focusing on the stars behind her lids as his hand pinched her neck harder.

He felt her tighten against him, and with the tell-tale sign of her orgasm, he released the grip on her throat. As soon as his hand came away, she was sucked into the whirlwind of lightheadedness from both the sudden reconnection with oxygen and the intensity of her orgasm. Her grasp on the headboard was quickly replaced with her hands clutching his shoulders. She was deaf to her own cries, the intensity of her world exploding around her leaving her senseless to anything except for the feeling of him.

When her high began to subside, she could still feel the stiffness of his cock inside of her. She finally opened her eyes with the actual ability to see again. She could see the pained look on his face as her movements stilled. She leaned forward, nose to nose with him as she pressed sloppy kisses against his lips.

“Let me make you cum,” she whispered, practically pleading with him. Hell, she had already taken almost all of his control already, it wasn’t exactly like he wanted to deny himself this opportunity.

He groaned as the history of her arousal dripped down his cock. She moved her hips torturously slow, her hands coming up to cradle him by the back of his head. His hands roamed down her body, clutching her ass cheeks where he’d left a red palm print.

“You’re so close, El. I can feel it.” she murmured, wincing at how sensitized she had already become. She picked up the pace, focusing solely on him and his climax. His breathing became heavier with each passing second, her hands roaming around his chest as she egged him on. She leaned forward to whisper in his ear. “Cum inside me, Daddy.”

Another audible moan erupted from his chest. She knew exactly which buttons to press to send him over the edge. His hips rose from the bed only a few more times before one hand held her hip and the other gripped tightly into her hair, thrusting deep inside of her as he filled her with his warmth.

They both crashed against each other, fighting for the return of their breath. Olivia’s palm landed on his chest as her head came down to rest on his shoulder. She could feel the warmth thrumming under his skin as the stress of the long week melted away.

His arms pulled her tighter against him and he felt her breathing beginning to slow into a steady rhythm. She was out cold before her cheek even hit his collarbone. He craned his neck to look down at her, smiling softly as he ran his hands through her hair.

The wave of sleep was upon him, he could feel the heaviness in his eyelids as he fought it off to stare at her for just a little bit longer. With each blink, he felt himself losing the battle that called him to sleep.

The last thought that graced his mind was how fucking perfect she looked while bundled in his arms. She was an enigma to him.

* * *

On her way to her own bedroom for the night, Monique tiredly trudged down the hallway of the apartment. She paused at Olivia’s room, staring at the shut door as if she’d magically be able to know if Olivia was inside. Worry rose in her chest as she wondered if Olivia was okay. Did she come home? Did she go to Stabler’s? Was she safe?

Despite the nagging voice in her head telling her to leave it be, the anxiety won. She cautiously opened the door just enough to peek inside.

She gulped as she stared at the picture displayed in front of her. Wrapped up in the sheets, Elliot Stabler slept with Olivia held contently in his arms. Olivia’s head rested against his bare chest, flowing with the rise and fall of each breath.

Monique’s hand fell away from the door handle, a quiet sigh filling the silence.

They looked happy.

She looked safe.

Olivia wore a soft grin as she remained oblivious to the world around her, his protective arm thrown over her naked back.

She felt guilty and nothing but. Guilty for wanting her best friend to herself. Guilty for expecting the relationship — or whatever it was, to fail. Olivia had taken care of her since the day they had met, taking her under her wing like a sister would. She hated herself for being more worried about losing that rather than having Olivia be happy.

She carefully shut the door, leaving them to sleep the night away, and for herself to sulk.

* * *

When he woke up the next morning, the rising sun flashed through the curtains. He felt the weight of her body resting against him, blissfully unaware of the world around her. His lips curled into a soft smile as he pushed a strand of hair from her cheek.

The silence in the apartment left him questioning if he was the only one awake, or if anyone else is there at all. He’d prefer the apartment to themselves in all selfishness, but the assumption would be dangerous.

He slipped out from the bed, careful not to wake her from her deep sleep as he retrieved his clothes from the foot of the bed. He watched as she tossed in her sleep, snuggling deeper into the indentation of where his warm body had previously lied.

He slid into his jeans as quietly as he could, carefully watching for any sign that he’d disrupted her. When he turned to fasten his belt into place, he spotted a frame on the wall shelf. He furrowed his brows as he stared at it, cautiously picking it up from its place. His hand carefully swept the dust off of the silver ornate frame, his eyes instantly falling onto a young girl with dark brown hair and matching eyes. Before he could stop himself, his head whipped around behind him to look at the sleeping woman. When his eyes reacquainted with the photo, he realized the resemblance. Beside the young Olivia was a photo of an unfamiliar woman.

The resemblance died with the woman’s blonde hair and blue eyes. They looked to be what most would call happy. Though, he could see it in both of their eyes. People like them, lives dysfunctional, they were trained to see the secrets in the irises. Any family photo of himself and his family was the same; smiles on the mouth but closed doors everywhere else.

The young Olivia looked as if she was told to smile. That’s how they always looked. A command followed, an order obeyed. A lie. He wondered that if he weren’t aware of her mother’s tragic passing and the state of how it came to be, would he still spot it? Would he still be able to tell that little Olivia had probably cried that night? Or was it just his default setting now given that his childhood had the same experience. Always obeying.

If he knew any better, he wouldn’t assume it was her mother in the photo. Though, he doesn’t know better. He doesn’t know _her_. He only assumes because she hasn’t spoken a word about her father and how she might resemble him or anyone else for that matter. She’s so young in the photo, he assumes it’s the year her mother died. It pulls at his heart when he realizes that his daughter is the same age as Olivia was when her mother passed. Though they look nothing alike, he assumes that the woman in the photo was all she had.

And as faux-happy as Olivia looks in the photo, his heart broke for her. Between that captured moment and the Olivia he knows now, it is left almost entirely blank to him. Her story is elusive and guarded, her traumas are kept deeply hidden.

He carefully set the photo back to where it lives on the shelf and when he turned to take a look at her, his heart clenched again. He could see the sleepy smile that broke through and the safety she felt surrounded by the nothingness of slumber. She survived, he thought to himself. Pride filled his lungs. Though, his mind wandered to what exactly it was that she has survived between then and now.

As soon as he was reasonably dressed, he quietly left the room.

He wasn’t exactly sure of what his intentions were with wandering and he felt guilty for the urge to snoop even further. Breakfast in bed wouldn’t hurt. As soon as he walked into the kitchen, he spotted the familiar roommate standing at the counter as she looked over the newspaper. “Oh… Uh, hello. I don’t think we’ve been formally introduced, you must be Monique.” he walked closer, sticking his hand out for an unreciprocated shake.

“You must be Stabler.” She didn’t move or even flinch at his presence, her eyes keeping a strong grip on his. “We didn’t have much time to be introduced, y’know, with you swooping in and all last night.” She said, taking a sip from her coffee mug.

Elliot chuckled awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck. “I’m sorry about that. I didn’t mean to intrude.”

“Didn’t you?” She smirked, seeing him tense up. “Relax, I’m just busting your balls.” Though, her tone wasn’t that convincing. “So, you two seem to be pretty taken with each other.” she said as she leaned against the kitchen island, narrowing her eyes in his direction.

He stopped for a moment, carefully articulating what he wanted to say next. “Well, we’re taking it day by day.” He replied, refusing to allow the impromptu interrogation to throw him off. “We enjoy each other’s company.”

She huffed out something resembling a single chuckle. “So I’ve gathered.”

He smiled, sucking air through his teeth while trying to maintain some semblance of neutrality between them. “I get it if you don’t like me, that’s fine. I should’ve taken the time to get to know everybody before I —“

“It’s not that I don’t like you,” she cut him off, giving him an incredulous look. “It’s that I don’t _trust_ you. All of you Fortune 500 guys, it’s all dishonesty and business. I think you can imagine my worry when I see my best friend becoming entangled into that. Y’know, I can’t help but fear for her.”

He had to appreciate the smugness and confidence in her tone. He was used to the cower, to the way people would shiver if they looked in his direction. Yet she remained unperturbed. “I understand that. I’ve met my fair share of those kinds of people in my line of work.”

“Look,” she smiled again, giving a deep exhale. “Let’s not dance around this, alright? You terrify some people. A lot of people, I assume. But you don’t terrify me. In fact, I think I might actually terrify _you._ That’s the thing about people like me, we’ve seen things. We’ve been through things. The fear you instill in people is only mechanical, but people like me have feared much worse.” her hands slid across the counter as she moved closer towards the side. “So, believe me when I tell you that if you even breathe one wrong breath in her direction, I will ruin you. I do not care who you are or how much money you wave around. I will hunt you down come hell or high water and let me be clear, I am both the hell _and_ the high water.”

Nose to nose with her, Elliot narrowed his eyes in return. His icy stare refused to penetrate beyond the glare in her eyes. “Understood.” he rasped.

“Good!” she chirped, her mood taking an entire 180°. “Now, normally I’d bust you up some more, measure how much you can take, see how weak you are. I’m not gonna do that because for the first time in our lives, I’ve seen a side of Olivia come out that seems almost happy. I would like for her to remain happy, despite the epic lack of trust I have in you. I owe her everything, she saved my life, so I’m not gonna ruin this for her. I expect the same out of you.” she grinned, turning away from him to refill her coffee mug.

Elliot leaned back, his expression filling with concern. He replayed the words in his mind, trying to wrap his head around the millions of scenarios that played out. “Saved your life? How so?”

Monique spun on her heel, casting a look of doubt towards him. “You don’t know?” she asked, genuine confusion altering her demeanor. She watched as the ice in his eyes melted, worry replacing every emotion he could convey.

Olivia wasn’t an open book, he’d learned that from their first night together. Pushing her to open up always seemed to be a faster method of pushing her away. He knew her mother had died and that she was given a scholarship in her mother’s honor. Nothing less, nothing more. “No?” he whispered almost to himself. The mystery of Olivia washed over him like a wave, reminding him of how much he truly did want to know about her.

Monique shot him a look of pity before it transformed back into a subtle smugness. “Well, I guess you don’t know everything.” she mumbled into her coffee cup, just barely loud enough for him to overhear.

“She uh… she doesn’t tell me much.” he scratched the back of his head, thinking of the photograph he had seen earlier. “I try not to push her. Don’t get me wrong though, I’d listen to whatever it is about herself that she shares, and I wish she’d share more.” He looked around the room, feeling his voice fall quieter as he spoke. “Like how she affords such a nice place.”

Monique set her mug down, her brows knitting together as the realization dawned on her that despite what she had thought, Olivia truly was closing herself off. She’d hoped that her best friend had opened just a bit more, especially to the man who seemed to have an effect on her like no other. “Wow, she really didn’t tell you…” she whispered, her words sounding just as hollow as his.

* * *

When he toed back down the hall, he opened her bedroom door with caution. Expecting her to still be exhausted, he didn’t bother to wake her as he gathered his things. His jacket and shoes were strewn at the foot of the bed, next to the glittery black dress she had worn the night previous.

“Don’t go,” she spoke softly, alerting him of her consciousness. His head whipped around to see her deep brown eyes staring at him. He grinned, walking to the edge of the bed where she started to sit upright. The sheets gathered around her chest, barely covering the naked skin of her torso.

“I have some stuff I gotta catch up on and you’re exhausted, Liv.” he whispered back, stroking her cheek. She softly nuzzled her head against his palm, giving him a blissful grin.

“Thank you for showing up last night.” she shifted closer to the edge, basking in the warmth that filled her as a sliver of light bled through the curtains and doused his skin. “I didn’t wanna be there.”

“I know,” he replied, his voice huskier than moments before. “I probably shouldn’t have invaded but I was worried. You’ve been working yourself to the bone.” the thumb that rested on her cheek moved slowly down to her bottom lip, stroking the plump pink skin. Her eyes closed as the ridges of his fingerprints only brought more heat to her skin. “I really should go,”

“No, wait.” she reached out to stop him, grabbing his wrists with a small but sultry grin. “Let me _actually_ thank you,” while his brows raised, her eyes fell to the zipper of his jeans that was now at her height. She pressed the bed sheets further against her chest as she brought herself closer to him.

Wordlessly, her fingers slowly worked to undo his belt, prying down the metal of the zipper with a torturously slow pace. She could hear the deep breath he sucked into his lungs as the sight of her began to overwhelm him. She was the closest thing to being on her knees beneath him and he forced himself to mentally capture the entire picture in front of him.

She pushed his jeans just past the bones of his hips, her hands delicately creeping between the fabric of the denim. His breath shivered as she grazed the length hidden behind the layer of underwear. Her palm stroked him, feeling him growing harder against her touch. When he looked down, he was met with the image of her intently focusing on her goal.

Holding back the urge to forcefully take control, he opted to carefully thread his fingers through her hair. She looked up at him with a smirk as his face contorted into restrained desire. His moans were muffled by the pressure of him pursing his lips, fearing the other occupants in the apartment may overhear.

Her fingertips pried beneath the waistband, pulling them down slowly until his erection sprung free. He heaved a deep breath out as she unconsciously licked her lips, softly taking him into her palm. As she ghosted her grip over his cock, his hand came down from her hair, his thumb falling back to her mouth. She glanced up at him, allowing his thumb to dip between her lips.

He stifled another groan, his eyes closing on instinct as it all became too much. Her hand continued to work down his length, coaxing him to grow harder with each massaging touch.

Her lips puckered against his thumb, swiping her tongue against it before releasing it. He could see the want growing in her eyes and he couldn’t help but note how stunning she looked when she had a look of unwarranted innocence in her eyes. His nerves fried at the thought of her wanting to taste him. Wanting to feel the weight of him between her lips. It was a thought that invaded his mind day in and day out, but he’d never pushed.

She looked ethereal beneath him, the message in her eyes completely in sync with him. The auburn glow of her hair was caught in the light and never in his life had he seen someone look so much like a goddess on their way to do sinful things.

When she leaned forward just barely an inch, the sensitized tip of his cock brushed against the silk skin of her lips. A shutter ran down his spine, hitching the breath in his lungs. He used all of his force to keep his feet planted on the ground, fearing that if he unwound himself, he would push too far.

His fingers grazed the back of her scalp as his head fell slightly back. He couldn’t watch as she swiped her tongue slowly the delicate skin, carefully sampling the taste of him. “Olivia,” he gave a shaky murmur, making the mistake of looking down to see the wide brown eyes staring back at him.

He liked testing her, but she liked testing him too, which was all he could boil it down to. She was not the most delicate woman in the world and he had a growing suspicion her gentle actions were only to rile him up further. Though, he couldn’t bring himself to care this time around, not as soon as the head of his cock disappeared between her lips and was met with the velvet touch of her tongue.

His body shuttered again, his knees buckling as her tongue swirled around him, her hand still smoothly stroking the rest of him. She released him from her mouth, dragging her tongue up the underside of him with a featherlight touch. She was begging. A different beg that didn’t come from cries of pleasure. She was begging him to react, to melt beneath her fingertips. Goddamnit, he was about to.

When her head bobbed back down against him, she slid more of him into her mouth. His breathing continued to speed up, constrained groans sounding from above her. She could feel the energy of him thrumming throughout him, and each drop of self restraint he had being used. 

Her free hand gripped his hip, steadying herself as she swirled her tongue and sucked harder. Her pace was beginning to pick up as soon as testing the waters became owning them. She owned him in that moment, and in every sense but literal, _he_ was the one on his knees for her

Stars formed behind his eyelids when he grazed the insides of her cheeks. His hand no longer cradled the base of her neck, rather gripping it instead. He fought to keep the unutilized force that beat through his body with each thump of his heart at bay, doing everything in his power to contain the urge to fuck himself into her mouth.

Taking him by surprise, her gentle movements stopped and turned into something that nearly took him off of his feet. She took in his entirety with one swift motion, sliding his cock against her tongue. She held him there for a moment, one hand gripping the base of him while the other dug her nails into his ass. There was no hiding the noise that ripped from his chest. His eyes fell forward, watching her grow accustomed to the feeling as she swallowed around him.

She pulled away, her tongue sliding alongside of him as she released him with a gentle pop. He could hear her chuckle under her breath as her hand resumed the work. He allowed himself the leeway to thrust his hips as his length against her grip. He fought to catch his breath, unaware that he had even been holding it in as long as he had.

The smirk on her lips and the mischief in her eyes nearly sent him into a spiral. She knew what she was doing to him and how every little movement broke him down piece by piece. She guided him between her lips again, settling both hands on his hips before taking him all in once more. He bit into his fist as her nose bumped against his abs, the way she hallowed her cheeks pushing him closer over the edge.

She sucked harder, claws digging deeper into her grip on his hips. He didn’t bother ending the thrusting movements that his body involuntarily gave, not when it seemed to light her fire even more. Her tongue drew delicate designs around him, her hands leaving his hips to ride up under his shirt and palm the taut skin of his chest.

“Liv,” he muttered in what sounded like a cry falling on deaf ears. “Liv, please.” he wasn’t sure of what he was begging for, or why he was begging at all. Elliot Stabler didn’t beg, but apparently he did a lot of things when she wanted him to. She had a certain ease with taking charge, something entirely foreign for him to witness.

But the track her tongue left and the softness of her hallowed cheeks, he didn’t really give a fuck. 

“Olivia, you have to stop.” he pleaded, trying to steady her head to no avail. “ _Olivia,_ I’m gonna cum.” The warning was useless and her pace only picked up further. Her eyes opened, searching until they found his. She could easily see the helplessness within him as his legs trembled, hurdling him off the edge of no return.

She held tighter onto his hips, refusing to let him pull away from her. The string of profanities leaving his mouth grew more harsh as she sucked harder. Like a wave crashing against dry land, his climax overtook every nerve in his body. The pearlescent heat of his orgasm spilled into her mouth with the bucking of his hips. He steadied her head without warning, crying out in a strangled moan as she swallowed around him one last time.

When she pulled away, she swiped her smile and any remnants of him with the back of her hand. He struggled to catch his breath, his legs threatening to give out from beneath him. She lifted herself from the position she sat in, planting her knees on the bed so she would be eye level with him. Her arms wrapped around his neck, the sheets falling from her form to reveal her body still unclothed from the night previous.

“I tried to warn you,” he said breathlessly, his hands falling to her bare hips. She closed the gap between them, bringing him in for a deep and ferocious kiss. For a moment he wondered if she wanted him to taste himself on her lips, but the thought ceased when she pulled away.

“I know,” she grinned, her voice dropping to a whisper. “But spitters are quitters.” her forehead fell tiredly against his, her nipples hardening from brushing against the fabric of his henley. Her body swayed against him as his palms moved down from her hips to her ass.

“And all that was simply a ‘thank you’ for barging into girl’s night?” he asked, nipping at bottom lip as she chuckled.

“More or less,” she hummed, unwrapping her arms from around his neck to help tuck himself back into his pants. “Maybe I knew it would get me a nice reward in return.”

The corners of his lips turned into a cheshire grin. “Good girl,” he mumbled against her lips, kissing her one last time before she knelt back down to cover her exposed body. “I suppose I should start thinking of ways to repay you for that favor.”

“I suppose so,” she smirked before sudden realization dawned on her. “Wait! Can you hand me the notebook and pencil on my desk? I just thought of the solution for the Red Light home page!”

He scuffed with a laugh. “You’re turning into me, work on the mind all the time!”

“Hurry!” she giggled. “I don’t wanna forget!” she reached her hands out frantically as he handed her the notepad, instantly scribbling down the reference of her idea. Intrigued, he stood beside her as she sketched it out. “The opening page, it’ll be fake. It can have a custom setting to look like a newspaper page or the Uber app, a bunch of options.” she said as she rapidly drew out the mockup. “Something discrete so if someone following them sees them opening it, they won’t know what’s about to happen. If someone following a woman sees them opening a familiar panic button, they may be inclined to attack sooner. This will disguise the main opening screen and the entry to the panic button itself can be in the bottom center.”

Elliot pulled back and looked at her with disbelief, a proud smile blooming in the corners of his mouth. “I think you might be a genius.” he leaned down, pressing a long kiss to her cheek.

His eyes flashed to the photograph on the shelf and back to the woman in front of him, the pride growing. Whatever she had gone through, she had survived in spades. She’d grown up from the girl with the sad eyes into the woman with the strong ideas.

She was changing his life.

“I’ll see you soon.” he whispered, departing from her as she shut off the world around her to do what she did best.


	6. Chapter Six - Twilight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thearrangement.carrd.co
> 
> song of the chapter: prisoner - raphael lake

Everything in her head was out of order. When she was at the office, she wanted to be in the studio. When she was in the studio, she wanted to be home. When she was home, she wanted to be with him. Constantly chasing some state of mind that was thrown into the mix of others.

The weight was getting heavier on her shoulders, the push and pull of everyone needing her. Elliot needed her for work, Monique needed her for friendship, the app team needed her for approvals. She was beginning to forget what it is that she needs.

Elliot had been quiet since the morning he left. Despite the overwhelming state she was in, his own attitude didn't escape her. She was just appreciative that he wasn't cold or callous towards her, but just quiet. Something was on his mind, but he was always the most unreadable.

She tried to run a list in her head of reasons why he'd be acting this way. She couldn't think of how she'd made him angry or upset. His schedule was more lax than usual which always seemed to benefit his mood.

She felt like broken glass that he was tip-toeing around. As if he'd be pricked by a sharp shard if he spoke the wrong way. She'd always hated kid gloves, but she also knew that it was entirely possible that it wasn't her fault.

The sound of his glass office door opening pulled her attention as he stepped out, gearing towards Casey's desk rather than hers. She furrowed her brows as she tried to listen to what he was saying.

"Casey, would you mind running this file down to the finance office?" he'd asked politely. She responded with her usual 'Of course, sir.' and hurried off with the manila envelope in hand. When he turned, he was met with Olivia's confused eyes.

He flashed a smile as he walked towards her desk, seeing her own grin beginning to replace the confusion. She dropped the mechanical pencil that she had been sketching with for the last hour. Design blueprints covering her desk rather than the usual business side of paperwork.

"Don't look so hurt that I didn't send you running off to Ed Tucker's office." he chuckled. "Now that the coast is clear, I was wondering if I could ask for your company tonight? I've got a bottle of Pino with your name on it." he smirked, leaning against the white plexiglass desk.

"Well, well. Mr. Stabler, have you forgotten that we are in the workplace?" she feigned, crossing her arms over her chest. "Might I remind you that I am currently working two jobs for the price of one, and once my assisting shift is over, my design shift begins. That'd all be well and fine if the design team didn't end their shifts when mine begin? I'm a bit swamped."

He raised his brows, "Is that a yes or a no?"

"As much as I would like to—" she started, watching as his shoulders slumped with disappointment. "I'm behind on a lot with Red Light. I'm heading the team, El. They don't do anything without my say so which makes it difficult to leave them to do it without me."

"Please?" he said with pleading eyes. "There isn't a set launch date for Red Light yet, you can take the night off from it. The boss says so."

"Oh, does he now?" she laughed at the sparkle in his eye. He was proud of himself and it was almost adorable. Though, she knew better than to label Elliot Stabler as anything remotely related to 'adorable' due to his nature.

"Liv, I literally live on the top floor of this building. The design suite is below ground level. You won't be far. You need some relaxation time, so I'll ask again. You, me, a bottle of wine, a few hours away from the chaos."

It was the look in his eye, she notes to herself. The look in his eyes that resembled a crackling fireplace that made her relent. "Fine," she dramatically sighed, rolling her head to the side. "But I'm going home first to get into some more comfortable clothes." she protested, earning no argument from his end.

He smiled, retreating back to the solitude of his office.

* * *

When she walked into his apartment that night, donned in a cozy white knit sweater and leggings. She set her bag down on a lounge chair, lazily smiling as he handed her a pre-poured glass of wine. She reached out, her fingers brushing his as she took the glass from him. Her eyes scanned him up and down, taking in the fact that he was still in the suit he had been wearing at work.

The heel of her boot clicked against the black marble floor as she stepped down the split-level flooring of the living area. She'd never really had the time to actually look around and admire his home. Naturally, it fit every mental image of a modern penthouse that she could conjure up in her mind. Black and dark wood tones complemented by ceiling to floor windows overlooking the skyscrapers of the city. Here and there she noticed the simple touches that made it his own. Miniature statues and decorations from the various places he'd traveled around the world, his favorite plants and flowers accenting each room.

She sat down on the couch, facing the crackling electric fireplace that had been installed into a dark stone wall. Her mind wandered to the color in his eyes the first night she had practically burst through his door. The flames in his eyes, she thought to herself, and how they suddenly matched that exact fireplace.

"So, what's the real reason I'm here?" she asked, breaking the silence as her mouth formed into that just short of a smirk. He looked down at her, still standing as he cradled his wine. She could see the unspoken question in his eyes. "You've barely spoken to me in the past few days, Elliot. I have been wracking my brain for anything I've said or done to — I don't know,  _ push you away _ ? Then, suddenly you want me here and clearly, it isn't just for sex because I'm wearing a sweater and it's not on the floor yet. So, spit it out."

He exhaled an unsteady breath, raising his brows as he tried to regain his composure. She always had a knack for catching him off guard. "Liv, you haven't done anything wrong." he smiled softly, taking the seat on the couch beside her. "I guess, I've just been thinking a lot. I suppose I don't know as much about you as I thought I did… or wish I did."

Her forehead knit together as he stared into her eyes, something soft yet hesitant written in the lines of his irises. "What do you mean?" she whispered nervously.

"Well, how much do I really know about you?" he huffed with something resembling a chuckle. "It's understandable that you know the ins and outs of my life, that comes with the job title. Nevertheless, when I look at you —" he stopped, sending her nearly to the edge of her seat with worry. "I don't really know the story of who I'm looking at."

She sat in shock, her jaw clenching as her head slightly jerked back. "My  _ story? _ " she asked with an incredulous tone. She could feel her metaphorical walls rising, regret washing over her as she felt the regret of letting them down in the first place. Her eyes fell away from his, gently dropping to the detailed patterns on his tie. "I guess I wasn't sure what this was," she whispered almost shamefully.

It was his turn to feel the knee jerk of her words. He gulped away the lump in his throat. "It doesn't have to be if you don't want it to be." he murmured back, hoping the disappointment in his voice wasn't as apparent to her as it was to him. "Either way, I want you to know that you can talk to me. About anything, Liv."

Her eyes involuntarily closed as she exhaled, setting the practically untouched wine glass on the coffee table. She leaned back into the couch, hesitantly turning her head to look at him. "Then ask me something." her words practically inaudible as she felt the natural recoil begin to occur in her system. "One question, that's the best I can do right now. Ask and I'll try to answer it."

He did everything he could to keep the smile off of his face and only in the depths of his eyes. Effort, he could live with that. Millions of questions swarmed his head, all of them seeming just as important as the last. Though, one question in particular had been stuck playing on a loop in his mind for days.

"Monique said you saved her life. What did she mean?"

Olivia's head whipped back towards him, an expression present on her face that he had never witnessed before. "She spoke to you?" she asked in disbelief, her body going cold with the feeling of betrayal. "When?"

"The morning that I was at your apartment. I had woken up a little bit before you did and we just talked briefly," he answered, trying to remain calm for her benefit. He knew if his own defenses went up, she'd only back away further.

"It must not have been that brief if you got far enough into the conversation that this would come up." she grit the words out, using all of her effort not to lose her temper. The panic within her eyes was becoming more clear as her attitude neared towards defensive. The last thing she wanted was for him to see her caught off guard this way, but as the reality of it sunk in, it became harder to untense her shoulders and relax. She felt the hot sting of unfallen tears beginning to burn in her eyes. "What the hell did she say to you?"

"Olivia," he softly raised his hand. "I promise, she didn't say anything really, that's why I asked. She casually dropped it thinking that I knew what she was talking about. Look, if you don't feel comfortable telling me, I understand. I didn't mean to upset you."

"No," she exhaled, forcing herself to calm down. She wiped her finger under her eye despite having not lost any tears. "No, it's fine. It's just… it's a heavy topic and I didn't expect it to come up yet."

"If you don't wanna tell me yet, or at all, that's fine." he spoke quietly, gently grabbing one of her hands. His thumb stroked hers, his eyes sparkling into hers when she finally looked up from her lap to face him.

"Can you just ask me something else? Just something that isn't as heavy?" she quietly pleaded, her head cocking to the side as her brown bobbed hair swiped against the knit fabric of her sweater. She didn't want him to look at her with anything but that sparkle in his eye, and she knew it would diminish as soon as she told him the truth.

"Okay," he chuckled with a nod. "Tell me how the hell you afford such a nice apartment in Manhattan." he laughed, earning a giggle from her as her shoulders relaxed and the tension began to lift.

"That I think I can answer." she laughed. "So, when my mom passed away, her entire will was left to me. I didn't even have a clue until I aged out of foster care. She had set up a trust for me to be accessed as soon as I was 18. That, and by some stroke of luck, I found out that our old apartment was never foreclosed; some error on the bank's end. It was signed over to me and I sold it. When Mo and I were in foster care together, we made a pact to take care of each other, so I invested a lot of the money and made back more than I could've ever imagined. I helped her with student loans and we both were able to get on our feet."

Elliot's hand never left hers as he listened intently. He grinned at her in amazement, fully knowing he wasn't exactly 'self made' as she was. In fact, she was a marvel to him. Sometimes, he let his imagination wander to what he thought her childhood was. Even in those imaginary thoughts, he knew he could've never done what she'd done and made it this far. "You don't work at SE for the money, do you?"

"No," she huffed out a small laugh. "I told you, I work at SE because that's the ladder I wanna climb. I'm obviously not set with my assets but it was enough to kickstart me into the right direction. It's not always about the money, Elliot." she grinned, giving him a sarcastically pointed look.

His eyes averted downward with guilt as he laughed, realizing that there was an entire world of things she could teach him that nobody else could. "The uh — the reason I asked you here tonight is because I had a question." he nervously shifted his body, preparing for an array of reactions she could give. "I was wondering if maybe you would like to take a trip with me somewhere? I know things have been kinda stressful at the office and it might be a nice getaway."

"A trip?" she parroted, her brows raising with curiosity. "I mean… is that even allowed? That sounds like a human resources nightmare." she giggled.

"Our last few weeks have been an HR nightmare," he rolled his eyes. "We'll call it a work trip. You're my assistant, so technically you can go with me anywhere. I have a few branches of SE around the world, I usually check some of them out a few times a year. I think a few days in paradise might be good for the both of us."

She curled into his arm that was placed behind her back, resting her head on his chest as she faced the fireplace. "I'd have to think about it, El. Especially if it's not really all that work-related." she felt the panic rising in her stomach. She couldn't deny that she loved the idea, but it was the fact that she loved it that drove her nerves into an electric mess. "Can I have some time to sit on it?"

He hesitantly nodded, letting go of a deep exhale. "Sure, take some time. If you decide you don't wanna go, we can scrap the whole idea." his voice had dropped a few octaves as his fingers traced along her back.

She squeezed her eyes shut, knowing he couldn't see it from where he sat. If there was any reason for the intensity she was feeling, she wasn't aware of it. It all suddenly felt so… domesticated. She had control over the relationship when it was just sex; when it wasn't hurdling down the road of… well, the road of what was exactly in front of her.

When had the control slipped from her fingertips? More importantly, how did she allow that to happen?

"Um, do you mind if I go lie down for a little bit?" she cleared her throat, gesturing towards the stairs that led near his bedroom. "I think I'm just really tired."

He craned his neck to look at her with concerned eyes. "Sure, go right ahead." he nodded sympathetically. "Yeah, I have a few things to catch up on so I'll be in my office, it's right down the hall from here." he pressed a kiss to her temple before standing up, helping her to her feet.

* * *

She dropped her purse on the bed, hastily tearing out the contents from it and placing them on the sheets. She made quick work of the sweater she wore, pulling it off over her head before shedding out of the panties and leggings. She missed the fire, she thought to herself. The fire in his eyes that had seemed to be dulling lately.

Her eyes fell to the lingerie on the bed that she had placed out. The same black and lace set she had worn on their first night together. She shook her head to herself, deciding against it. Instead, she chose the dark grey silk robe, detailed with intricate black lace along the sleeves.

She wanted the fire from the first night with him. The thrill of not knowing what to expect from him. In some ways, she wondered if he had begun going easier on her for fear of going too far.

Her body shivered at the thought of how far he would need to go to warrant it being considered  _ too _ far.

Words didn't work for her. Explaining her feelings outright never did. She wanted the fury within him to come back to her. Though, the words would never leave her lips. Instead, she had planned on doing what she was best at. Provoking him.

She slid the silk robe over her frame, not bothering to tie the front of it. She wanted 'too far' and then some, but she knew it would take time. Much like herself in a way, he wasn't keen on diving right in. As he would need to work the secrets out of her, she would need to work the beast out of him.

Her feet padded against the cold tile floors of the en suite bathroom. She hovered over the sink, staring closely at her reflection in the mirror.

She was not gentle like a flower. He did not need to tiptoe around her. She wouldn't shatter. She was gentle like a bomb. She wasn't fine china and she wouldn't run at the first sight of him taking control.  _ 'You like control, Olivia. You thrive off of it. Let me take some of that control off of you, let me take care of you.' _

Oh, how she wanted those words whispered against the shell of her ear again. She wanted the urgency, the pure and feral need. When her eyes closed, she pictured him stopping the elevator as he once did. The red emergency lights that drenched his body. The ice had been so clear that day, but now she wanted the fire. The fire that she knew had been hiding behind the ice. His coldness tamed the fury, the need within him that he was once again trying to remain hidden.

Cheek kisses were for couples. Nights on the couch were for partners. That wasn't their original arrangement. He was different before, and deciding between which side of him she preferred was a consistent battle in her mind. He touched her like a lover, he fucked her like an enemy. Wanting both wasn't an option.

Using her middle finger, she dabbed away the slightly smudged eyeliner from her eyes. Maybe she shouldn't have taken control the last time. In the darkness of her bedroom, offering no room for change. She had ensnared him, and convinced him to comply. Elliot Stabler did not accept such influence. Not usually.

If her actions were causing the change in him, then the only option was for her actions to alter. He had been so careful before. Careful everywhere except within the tangled sheets. His words, his gait, his stares. All so perfectly calculated with restraint. She was changing him and the simple thought of that made her want to throw her hand through the mirror.

She was not going to break. She was not weak. She was brutal and just short of invincible. He could touch her without her disintigrating at the tips of his fingers, why didn't he fucking understand that?

She let go of a deep breath and released her grasp on the sink, spinning on her heel to reenter the bedroom. Scattered clothing items were hastily put back into her bag which was laid beside the bed. The cold sheets chilled her skin as she climbed within them, the amethyst colored silk gathering around her legs.

She was learning his ins and outs, his points of rage and hunger. He was trying so hard to keep himself tame, she could feel the energy of it beneath his skin. No more containment, no more holding back.

Maybe she was going insane. She felt as if she was. Could it get much crazier than poking the beast with a stick? Knowingly provoking a response out of him simply to feel alive again?

She grabbed her phone from the nightstand, quickly navigating to the most recent text conversation between the two of them. Her manicured fingers tapped against the screen, carefully crafting a message that would grab his attention.

' _ There's a surprise in your bedroom,' _

She wanted numbness; sex that would drag every whisper of a thought from her mind and fill her with nothing but the present moment. It was hard to breathe when memories swirled in her mind, she could barely see the room as it spun.

The numbness, that's all she wanted.

She waited a moment, finally exhaling as soon as the familiar ringtone beeped.

' _ I'll be right there,' _

* * *

He'd convinced himself to get up and out of his home office, where no real work had been done since he'd sat down. He'd pushed her too hard, crossing a line he should've known better. The previous conversation played in his head on a loop as he trailed through the familiar hallways of his home.

He'd seen the look in her eyes, the fright as she had flinched when he'd asked her about Monique. God, he thought maybe she had pushed her best friend out of the way of a passing car, but nothing as serious that it would warrant that reaction from her.

As soon as his eyes reach her, his footsteps come to a complete halt. He could feel the breath ripped from his lungs almost in tandem as her breath filled her own. He stood, completely off guard watching as her fingers lazily rubbed her clit. Her robe had fallen open, giving him a clear view of her entire body as she stared straight forward into his eyes. As his body stilled, he could feel the heavy thumping of his pulse in his neck, furiously pounding beneath his skin. "Olivia," he warned, his jaw clenched in place. "Put your hands up."

He enunciated each word slowly, watching for minuscule changes in her temperament. Her eyes never fell away from his and her movements never ceased. He watched the writhe of her body as her hips slightly rose, gingerly grinding against her own fingers. He felt the heat creeping up his neck and into his cheeks, his fists clenching at his side. His steps towards her were slow and calculated, each one another chance for her to obey the order she was denying.

His knees reached the foot of the bed, mere inches away from the ability to reach out and grab her. From the look in her eye, he could see her searching for something within his. Whatever it was, he wasn't sure. She wanted something from him. "Hands. Up."  _ Last chance. _

She was playing him and he could feel it, the disturbingly enthralling sensation of knowing she was pulling at his strings. When her hands refused to move away from her core, his strides were swift towards the side of the bed. He ripped the tie away from his neck, using his other hand to fiercely grab her wrists. She took in a sharp inhale as he fastened the tie around her wrists and the tie to the headboard.

He stepped back, taking a look at the image in front of him. The instinct to soak up every modicum of the sight displayed in front of him was overwhelming. Her eyes had blown wide, her jaw slack as she awaited his next move. She was watching him as if he were a predator and she was the prey, knowingly giving in to the reality of what fate she was to meet.

Her pupils were blown and he could've seen it from a mile away. Whatever her plan was, she was enjoying it. There were times that he could read her as easily as he could read a book, and it was clear as day to him just how badly she wanted more. Her tongue swiped across her bottom lip, her teeth nipping at the sensitive skin. Whatever she wanted, he wanted to give it to her.

Back to his near light speed, he leaned over her, a callous palm gripping the soft and sensitive skin of her inner thigh. She whimpered as she sucked in another sharp breath, feeling his fingers electrifying every nerve they touched. "In your bed, you are free to do whatever you please. But in my bed?" he whispered, the heat of his breath warming the shell of her ear. "In my bed, the only hands that touch you are mine."

For a moment, she wished he could read her mind; so he could see how alive she felt the moment the fire had returned to his eyes. The exact thrill she had encountered during their first night and then some.

He pulled away, releasing the grip on her thigh. He easily shrugged out of the blazer jacket he had worn all day, rolling up the crisp white sleeves of his shirt to the middle of his forearms. Her mouth watered at the sight of him, statuesque and bathed in the warm light of the dark bedroom.

Her eyes followed every step he took as he moved from one side of the bed to the other. When he reached down and grabbed her purse, her breath became trapped in her throat. His eyes stayed with hers as he reached into the bag, grabbing a small and familiar pink device before laying the bag back down on the floor.

"You think I didn't know about this?" he casually smirked, holding up the travel sized vibrator for her to see. His fingers toyed with the buttons, buzzing it to life for a moment before powering it down. "Seventeen days after you started working at SE, I saw it in your purse by accident. I'd say my assumption that it stays there all the time is probably correct." his movements back towards her are slow and languid, feeding into the need that overpowered her. "Although I'm not, I should probably feel a bit more ashamed of the thoughts that filled my head after seeing it."

He heard a barely audible moan emit from her as he neared closer to her once more. Her breathing has sped up, he could hear it a mile away. The way she desperately wanted to reach out and grab him. He leaned back down, once again his mouth to her ear. "Do you remember your safe word?"

She nodded fervently, letting the word out in a short exhale. "It's red. The word is red."

The corner of his mouth turned up in a cocky smile. "Good, because you've disobeyed me, Olivia." Still fully clothed, he climbed into the bed and lodged himself between her knees. Her legs wrapped around his waist as he settled himself in. "So, we're going to have to take care of that."

Her hips lifted off of the bed with anticipation as the device in his palm whirred to life. His free hand came down against her lower stomach, flattening her back down onto the bed. "Do not cum without my permission. Do not make a sound. Got it?" he buzzed the device against her thigh, jerking electricity through her limbs before pushing her back down again.

Her teeth crashed down on her lip as he buzzed the head of the toy against her skin. He could see her arousal glistening already, her core soft and wet and calling out to him. Though, he knew part of denying her meant denying himself. As much as he wanted to dip his fingers into her aching center, he knew it would only lead the moment somewhere that it shouldn't be led.

She wanted to tease him, it was his turn; that meant sacrificing the touch and taste he desired.

"Is this what you wanted?" he growled, moving the toy just above her clit. She could feel the rhythmic vibrations just out of reach from where she wanted to feel them. She bit harder down on her lip, fully knowing her lungs were ready to forsake her at any moment. His free hand held tightly down on her thigh, restricting her upward movements. "I think you like disobeying me."

Her arms tugged against the tie but it gave no leniency. The tip of the toy neared closer to her most sensitive spot, her hips searching for more friction with complete abandon. His voice ran over her like a smooth leather, coaxing her further into the trance she had been searching for.

The emotional numbness induced by him and his touch was settling over her like a warm blanket. The swirling thoughts began to dissipate and had become replaced with raw anticipation. She closed her eyes and focused on every sensation that he fed into her. The vibrations of the toy near her clit, the ridges of fingerprints on her thigh, the sound of the growl in his chest.

Without warning, he moved the vibrator to rest directly against her clit. The reflex in her knees jerked and her back lifted from the sheets once again. Just as her teeth were about to slice her lips from the strength of biting down on them, a loud and unrestrained moan ripped from her chest. "Oh, fuck!" she cried out, instantly regretting it.

He pulled the toy away, giving her a pointed look. "What did I say about not making a sound?" he growled, pressing the vibrator near his chest enough that she could see it in her line of vision. "If I'm not mistaken, it seems like someone is chasing consequences."

"I'm sorry," she blurted out, gasping for air as her hips rolled. "Please, Daddy. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." she sobbed. The insatiable ache refused to waver and the flash of anger only added fuel to the fire.

"You better be," he mumbled before reverting back to the light pressure of the toy against her clit. He watched her fight with all her power against gasping out again, thrashing her head against her shoulder to help stifle the sounds. "No sounds, Olivia." he warned, failing at hiding his smirk.

He flipped the switch on the vibrator, turning its power up a notch with it still firmly in place. He watched her lip quiver between her teeth, the sight of her fighting off her natural instincts only furthering his need to drive her insane. He could feel the tightness in his pants becoming more uncomfortable as his cock grew harder. He knew his own resistance was wearing thin along with hers, but for now, his focus fell solely on her.

Her legs tightened around him as he sat still between her knees. Through squinted eyes, she could see the focus on his face. As if he were studying every morsel of the image of her in front of him, filing it away in his mind as a masterpiece. She saw the way his tongue dragged over his bottom lip, the fight in his eyes to control himself.

His vision raked up her body, taking in the sight of her olive-toned skin; her torso exposed in all of its glory. He was once again hit with the mouth-watering need to lick and taste her. The sight of her lithe skin and the hardening of her dusky nipples was quickly becoming his kryptonite. He could spot every inch on her neck that he craved to mark, to leave a sign to the world that she was the only one who could ignite him quite like this.

When he looked back down, he could see the small drip of her arousal, a clear glistening against her skin before it marked the sheets. He could sense from the strangled effort to remain quiet that she was nearing closer to breaking one more rule.

Her thighs squeezed harder against him, shivering as his hand came down to rest on the soft skin. She was on the edge, exactly where he wanted her. "Nod if you're close, Olivia," he murmured, pressing the toy against her with more pressure.

The fervent nod came before he had even finished his sentence. With her answer, he slowly pulled the toy away from her clit. She visibly fought against crying out from the sudden loss, her teeth sinking into her bottom lip like an anchor. "No sounds," he whispered, stroking her thigh. "Nice and quiet, good girl."

On any other day, he could listen to the sounds of her pleasure on a loop, drowning himself in the hymns that her body sung. Though, this time, the satisfaction he felt came from watching her as she followed his order. Her body searched frantically for any sort of friction, her moves entirely on auto-pilot with the slight pressure of his hands on her legs holding her down. He wondered if it were her lack of being able to express herself through sound that made her body move with more need.

"See? You know how to listen, Olivia. You know how to follow rules." he hummed, meeting her pleading eyes. "And to think, if you had followed the rules, you would've been allowed to cum all over that toy. So, next time, think about what you're feeling right now." he shot her a deadly smirk. "Think about how your legs are shaking and how wet you are. Think about how amazing it would've felt to cum a few moments ago."

She shivered against him, tears of absolute need forming in the corners of her eyes. He could read every word that her lips refused to express, almost as if they were written on her skin. She was begging within an inch of her life for him.

Powering the vibrator back to life, he rested it directly against her clit. The sudden reacquaintance with the toy shocked her body, still she managed to suppress the sound of the air being sucked from her lungs.

He leaned back as the toy laid against her, his fingers tracing the lining of his shirt tauntingly slow. She watched avidly as the buttons popped from the crisp white shirt, revealing the familiar flesh tones of his skin. Each button came undone with a torturous pace, inciting a reaction from her with every inch of skin that had become visible.

She tugged against the tie once more, desperate to reach out and touch him. The need to feel him against her palm was nearly more intoxicating than the vibrations against her core. As soon as the shirt fell from his frame, he leaned back into her with an almost primal sense.

Just as he could read her face, she could read his. She could read within the molten irises that his own patience was wearing thin and the urge to touch her was overpowering him. His hands ventured down to his belt, unfastening the leather buckle as well as the zipper of his pants. Her eyes fell down to the visible erection bulging through the material.

Without warning, his right hand was back to holding the vibrator steady against her. His eyes never left hers as he dipped a finger into her center with his other hand. Her jaw dropped, head rolling back against her shoulder, though nothing but a small release of air sounded from her. Her hips rose as his finger slid deeper, fighting for more than what he was offering her.

A second finger slipped into the wetness of her arousal, finally filling her with a bit more satisfaction and relief. His movements sped, up, the vibrator circling around her clit as his fingers drove into her.

The sensation of losing herself was becoming more overwhelming with each pump into her, each rumble of the toy against her core. Every blink was turning the stars behind her eyelids into constellations. Euphoria and nirvana had become senseless words to her compared to the reaction he had conducted her body to have.

By the time his third finger had slipped into her, he knew she was too far gone to deny it. Any shred of sanity that had remained through the first denial of her climax was clearly a lost cause now. She remained soundless with the exception of soft gasps, all of her strength being directed towards keeping herself from moving too forcefully against his touch. He could feel the swift onslaught of her orgasm from her pulse. "Cum, Olivia." he instructed through his own gritting teeth.

Feeling her come undone against his fingers was the final straw. He leapt forward, leaning over her as he undid the tie from the headboard that had bound her wrists. As soon as her hands were free, they instinctively wrapped around his neck as his lips crashed against hers. Never again did she want to take for granted the feeling of her hands roaming is back, the texture of his skin beneath her touch.

He swung her limp legs around his hips, lifting her off the bed as he secured the weight of her in his arms. His steps were jagged and much less graceful than he cared to admit, but he landed the both of them exactly where he wanted them.

The frigid cold window made contact with her back as he pressed her up against the glass. The endless row of lights that filled the city illuminated the outline of her body, silhouetting the parts of her that he faced.

"Do you think they can see you, Olivia?" he rasped, maneuvering himself to slip inside of her soaked entrance. Her eyes rolled back as she felt him bury himself to the hilt inside of her.. "Do you think the city can see the outline of your body and just know that every nerve ending inside of you is on fire?" He turned his head, sliding his tongue up the soft skin of her neck.

Her left hand intertwined with his, her knuckles hitting against the glass pane as he gifted it above her head. His other hand helped support the weight of her as he slid his hips away, thrusting back into her with sharp vigor. "I think they can see you." he whispered in her ear as soon as his tongue was drawn away from her throat. "I think they're watching you getting fucked, Olivia."

Her jaw quivered, her eyes never leaving his gaze as soon as they reconnected. The hand that wasn't gripping his was clawing at his back, begging for more traction. With each pistoning movement of his hips, she could feel the throb of his cock inside of her. He was painfully hard from watching her squirm under his touch until he allowed her dam to break.

"Let them watch," she breathed, her voice as low and gravelly as his. Her hand let go of his, wrapping around his neck to hold on tighter. She was nearly certain that with the strength of his movements, the glass that held her up would shatter into a million shards.

His lips crashed down on hers, his teeth nipping at her lower lip. He could still taste the luxury wine on her tongue tangled with the flavor of the strawberry lip balm she had been wearing. The vibrations of her strangled moan rumbled against him from his mouth down to his chest, pressed flush against hers.

She watched as his brows knit together, his drive into her becoming stronger with each passing second. It still amazed her that the simple image of him bordering his climax could bring her own pleasure to unexplored heights. It was becoming a power-hungry move for her, compelled by the idea that she had the ability to create such a reaction within him.

"Harder," she egged him on, watching for any sort of reaction in his face. "Fuck me harder, Elliot." she ordered, a smug grin growing on her lips. She clenched around him, earning a throaty gasp from deep in his chest. "Fuck me like you mean it." the words came with a deadly grit, fully knowing it would only make him angry. A flash of red filled his eyes for a fleeting moment and the idea that she could induce such a force of nature from him only fueled her adrenaline.

In one swift movement, he released his grip that held her up against the glass. He quickly spun her around, pressing her bare front to the freezing window. Without warning, his hands emphatically spread her legs apart, his cock immediately thrusting back into her. His hand rose to her hair, grabbing it in a makeshift ponytail as he pulled her head back with it. "You do  _ not _ tell me how to fuck you." he growled in her ear, pushing her deeper against the window.

She braced herself with her hands against the pane, allowing herself the range to work with him as he fucked into her. Even with aggression in his movements, she finally felt in sync with him. The vehement need to feel his power was coming to fruition and the euphoria was finally returning.

With his new position behind her, she could feel him reaching her most sensitive spots. Her mind was wiped clean from the ideas of how to rile him up, instead replaced with the utter need to claim her release, and incite his own. Though it gave no traction, her nails still tried to dig into the glass, anything to hold her stance as her knees began to quiver.

His pace sped up, another synchronicity between the two of them. His fingers dug into her skin, steadying her as he drove harder into her core. Her cries came unrestrained as she teetered on the edge, her mind relinquishing control over her movements and allowing her body to stir as it needed. He tugged her hair back tighter, his other hand lifting from its place on her hip to grip her throat. His fingers squeezed her pulse points, instantly pushing her from the precipice and sending shockwaves of her climax through her entire system.

As she ground herself down on his cock, she tightened around him. Stars behind her eyelids replaced the city lights as he continued to guide her through. The reflexion in the window of her face overcome with pleasure was his final undoing. One last powerful thrust into her wet center and chills ran through his body. An animalistic roar ripped from his chest as he came inside her, thrashing to grab whatever part of her body he could hold tighter against himself.

Her forehead tiredly rested against the window as she came down from her high. She could feel the light sheen of sweat from his chest as he fell forward into her. Her breath fogged against the glass, her entire body growing limp.

With what little energy he had left, he carefully swept her up from her feet and carried her to the bathroom. Her head lolled against his shoulder with exhaustion before he gingerly placed her into the massive white bathtub. Her body relaxed against the porcelain as he turned on the hot water tap, grabbing a bottle of bubbly soap from the cabinets and pouring a healthy dose into the water.

He leaned down pressing a soft kiss to her forehead. "Good girl," he whispered to her, despite the fact that she was barely awake. He smirked at her as he grabbed a few towels, heading towards the glass shower with a direct view of the bathtub. He watched as her lips turned upward into a blissful and sleepy smile.

* * *

She laid curled up in his bed, nothing but the silk robe from before covering her body beneath the blankets. She mindlessly flipped through channels on his TV before he emerged from the bathroom. With a towel wrapped around his waist, he sauntered into the room, his phone drawn out in his hand. "Here," he handed her the device. "Take a look."

"What's this?" she asked, adjusting her vision to the screen. She scrolled through the bright and beautiful pictures of somewhere that was clearly not located near them.

"A few places we could go for that trip." he replied, continuing to dry off the upper half of his body. He crawled into the welcoming silk sheets, leaning over to point at one of the pictures. "That's one, the white buildings with the blue roofs? Santorini. It's in Greece. Beautiful place, like nothing you've ever seen before. There's an international SE base there that I've been meaning to check up on. Whaddya' think?" he smirked, lying on his stomach on the bed, propping himself up on his elbows.

"Wow," she blinked, continuing to scroll through the photographs. "It's stunning. How many other assistants have you flown out there?" she asked sarcastically, fully matching his shit-eating grin as she handed the phone back to him.

"I guess I've been waiting for the right one to tag along with me." he replied without missing a beat. He flipped himself onto his back, maneuvering her closer against him until her head was resting on his bare chest. His fingers stroked through the dark locks of hair that were still damp from the bath. "It'll be amazing, I promise. We'll go for a few days, I'll stop by the SE base, and then we can enjoy everything Santorini has to offer — including lots and  _ lots _ of international sex."

She giggled as she traced lines along his chest. "International sex, huh? You sure do know how to win a girl's heart, Mr. Stabler." she took a hesitant deep breath, running the scenarios of the trip through her head. "I'll have to make arrangements ahead of time. I don't want Monique to think that I suddenly dropped off the face of the Earth."

"Obviously," he scoffed. "I'm not gonna throw a bag over your head and kidnap you just so you can relax for five minutes in Greece. We'll take some time to prepare, and that way I can have my place all set up and ready for our arrival."

"You have a place in Santorini?" she asked in disbelief.

His chuckle rumbled in his chest, vibrating against her cheek. "It's a quaint little place, I promise. It's like a villa, you'll love it."

She allowed herself one more moment of ignorant bliss as if her mind wasn't made up before she sighed. "Well, then I guess we're going to Santorini."

"Geez, don't sound  _ too _ excited," he said with feigned hurt.

She laughed, swatting his chest with her palm. "I'm kidding, El. I'm excited, don't worry. You're right, it's been a stressful few weeks and maybe a few days away can do us both a world of good. But I mean it when I say that it better include a mimosa and some very pleasing international sex."

His arms wrapped tighter around her as he leaned down to kiss the crown of her head. "When  _ hasn't  _ the sex been pleasing? Do I need to prove myself again tonight?"

She laughed harder that time, feeling him bury his face into the top of her hair. "Calm down, Tiger." she patted her hand against him. "Not tonight. I think I'm maxed out on pleasing sex for the night, but that could change by morning."

She could feel the smirk that returned to his face. "Oh, I'm counting on it."


End file.
